Among the late night personalities, Jimmy Fallon is not known for being particularly political. In fact, he’s actually spoken out about why he doesn’t really get into politics much on The Tonight Show in the past. Of late though, he’s dipped his toes in tepid water when it comes to Donald Trump jokes, and this week he unexpectedly dropped a zinger about the President of the United States and the behemoth box office run that has been Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already hit some global box office milestones in recent weeks, and now it’s back with a domestic record. It’s beat Star War: The Force Awakens to become the highest-grossing movie domestically. The news was all over the interwebs before Jimmy Fallon busted out the fact on his late night show, but his commentary came with a little bit of flair and a Trump joke.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day just became the highest-grossing movie ever at the US [and Canada] box office. Yes, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been hugely successful. At this point the only thing that could stop it is if Trump tries to add his name to it.
Ba-dump bump. That's pretty light fare for late night Trump content. Yet, it was an unexpected joke, to be sure, and it served a dual purpose, as Fallon then launched into a bit about the Kennedy Center also changing its name (but everyone still calling it the Kennedy Center). It was a good segue, and marked the comedian delving further into political jokes.
In general, the monologue on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Wednesday was honestly really funny. He kicked off with Spidey, worked into a bit about the Kennedy Center name change and Trump, and tied it all together with a really funny bit about US senator’s last names. If you didn’t give it a watch yet, it’s well worth it.
Fallon has earned a bit less ire from President Donald Trump than some of his fellow late night hosts like Stephen Colbert (whom Trump wildly spoke about after The Late Show ended), Jimmy Kimmel and even fellow network alum Seth Meyers. Of course, the NBC program hasn’t faced some of the same scrutiny from the FCC Jimmy Kimmel Live! and others have faced in recent months, but Trump did once call Fallon “talentless,” so he’s been a social media target before, too.
It’s a weird landscape out there right now, but at least Spider-Man is still out there killing it at the box office. Plus, we have the upcoming release of another Marvel movie, yes I'm talking about Avengers: Doomsday coming up. Whether Fallon will make connections to that film with the administration remains to be seen though! Stay tuned as the holidays roll around.
