Every season, Saturday Night Live does a great job of bringing in crowd-pleasing hosts that deliver the laughs even when the material isn't up to snuff. Someone you haven't ever seen as an SNL guest host (or ever, since you can't) is pro wrestler, actor and wish-granter John Cena. Get ready for that to change, though, as it's been announced Cena will take the stage for such lauded duties on Saturday, December 10. We have 8 days to prepare.
Way to pre-Christmas gift us, Saturday Night Live! In just over a week, the charismatic John Cena gets to once again show off his sketch comedy skills, which were relatively recently evidenced here, and we're betting the writers will find ways to make ample use of his physique to draw laughs and "ooh-la-la" noises from the audience. If you have recollections of seeing Cena on SNL in the past, it's because he did appear on a 2009 episode as John "NBC Security Guard" Cena, but that installment was hosted by Tracy Morgan. Fingers crossed there's balance in the universe and Morgan appears in Cena's episode, announced on Twitter.
John Cena showed off his hosting skills earlier this year when he dressed up and got audiences chuckling as the front man of ESPN's ESPY Awards, and he's also the host of his own competition reality series, so a shot at Saturday Night Live makes all the sense. Here's how the Trainwreck co-star reacted to the news, presumably while walking down a steel runway with music blaring.
Along with John Cena, the December 10 episode will feature singer-songwriter Maren Morris as the musical guest. Morris, whose label debut album Hero peaked high on the Billboard 200 and took the top slot in Country Albums when it was released this summer. She will be seen tonight - Friday, December 2 - on CMT Crossroads opposite Alicia Keys, and their incredible voices should make for a great installment of that genre-crossing series. To then hop over to NYC for Saturday Night Live should be quite a rush for the young artist.
It was also announced that the December 17 episode will be hosted by actor Casey Affleck, who was a cinematic triple threat in 2016, having starred in Triple 9, The Finest Hours and Manchester by the Sea, the last of which is getting a wide U.S. release in the coming weeks. The musical guest for that episode will be Chance the Rapper, whose gospel-infused mixtape Coloring Book has widely been considered one of the best hip-hop efforts of the year.
Only recently, the long-running hit brought in the outskirts-hovering comedian Dave Chappelle for a fantastic episode, and we've seen hilarious efforts from vet player Kristen Wiig, as well as Tom S. Hanks. The upcoming weeks should hopefully give audiences equally odd and pointed sketches and jokes.
So don't forget to check out John Cena hosting Saturday Night Live, with Maren Morris as musical guest, on Saturday, December 10. To keep current on everyone hosting SNL in the future, check out our updated hosts list, which will be updated soon.
