“Saturday Night Live” returned with its first new show of 2022 with Joe Biden announcing a solution to the current COVID-19 pandemic: stop seeing “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
New cast member for the 2021-22 season James Austin Johnson appeared as the president during a press briefing in which he urged all Americans to stop seeing the film that’s currently lighting up the box office. “America, I’m here to tell you, there’s one simple thing you can do to start making this virus go away: stop seeing ‘Spider-Man.’”
He then tied the beginning of the omicron surge to the opening of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which scored the second-biggest domestic opening of all time with $260 million. “Think about it. When did ‘Spider-Man’ come out? Dec. 17. When did every person get omicron? The week after ‘Spider-Man’ came out.”
When a member of the press asked Biden if he was asking everyone to stop going to the movies, he clarified: “I didn’t say don’t go to the movies. I said stop seeing ‘Spider-Man’. See anything else. I saw the first half-hour of ‘House of Gucci’. That’s more than enough movie for anyone,” taking a dig at the Lady Gaga-fronted melodrama from director Ridley Scott.
Austin’s Biden offered a clear mathematical example of how seeing “Spider-Man” is causing the current surge in COVID-19 numbers: “Everyone in America has seen ‘Spider-Man’ like eight times. Everyone in America also has COVID.”
When asked by a reporter he referred to as a “nerd” if he thought there was another Joe Biden in a different universe — in reference to the multiverse aspect of the “Spider-Man” sequel — Biden went on a run: “As far as I can tell, there are at least three Joe Bidens. One of them is me. One of them is the Joe Biden that lost to Trump – that one hosts a show on CNBC called ‘T-Bird’s Tacos and Trains’ – and then there’s a third Joe Biden, who’s the greatest president in history. My approval ratings are sky-high, I’m supported by my own party, and I understand the show ‘Euphoria.’”
When a reporter responded with disbelief at Biden’s explanation, he quipped: “Doesn’t that make more sense than whatever the hell our current world is?”
As the button for the sketch, Pete Davidson appeared as Joe Biden from another universe – a Joe Biden wearing no t-shirt and with a chest full of tattoos. He explained that everyone here is living in the bad universe, while he comes from “the real world,” before adding with a smirk on his face: “Everyone on Earth is better off in the real world, except one man named Pete Davidson. Your world is maybe more fun for him.”
Watch the full cold open above.
