Saturday Night Live's most recent cold open brought the multiverse to Washington, DC with a variant of President Joe Biden and a cameo from Spider-Man himself.
The nearly seven-minute-long cold open featured a message from Joe Biden (featured player James Austin Johnson), begging the American people to "stop seeing Spider-Man," as he blamed the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on Spider-Man: No Way Home. "Just think about it, when did Spider-Man come out? December 17. When did every single person get omicron? The week after December 17. Stop seeing Spider-Man!" he said. By the end of the sketch, a variant of President Biden, played by SNL regular Pete Davidson, from the alternate "real universe" emerged from a portal with Spider-Man to welcome the audience to the rest of the show.
As the omicron variant surged following the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home in theaters, several surprise appearances from star Tom Holland and another unnamed actor at opening night screenings were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. Despite this, No Way Home has been consistently breaking previously established box office records since its release in theaters.
The highly anticipated addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first pandemic-era film to earn over $1 billion in the global box office, after raking in $587.2 million worldwide in its first weekend of release. The film's opening day alone set a precedent for the subsequent records, becoming the second-highest opening day of all time with $121.5 million, behind Avengers: Endgame, which still remains the highest-grossing film ever. As for Sony Pictures, Spider-Man: No Way Home was the studio's first film to clear $500 million at the stateside box office.
Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Holland's Web-Slinger not only take on the villains of the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb-helmed franchises but be joined by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's respective Spider-Mans as well. No Way Home may be a success financially, but it is also a hit with audiences and critics alike as the best-reviewed movie of 2021 and the second-best reviewed MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes. No Way Home currently holds a 93% score on the Tomatometer with 332 reviews at the time of writing but debuted to a perfect score overall. The critical consensus calls the film a "bigger, bolder Spider-Man sequel [that] expands the franchise's scope and stakes without losing sight of its humor and heart."
For fans who still want to experience the multiverse, Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters.
Source: YouTube