Saturday Night Live has had one hell of an anniversary year, between Season 40 guest hosts and the slew of big names who participated in the huge SNL 40 special. This week, NBC announced that Chris Hemsworth has signed on to host an upcoming episode of the late night sketch series. He’ll appear on the episode that is set to air on March 7.
The gig will mark the first time Hemsworth has appeared on Saturday Night Live, which means we have literally no idea what to expect when the actor appears on the sketch series. Unfortunately, a lot of his big roles, including Rush, Star Trek Into Darkness and Snow White and the Huntsman have been extremely serious endeavors. While there is a lot of humor to Hemsworth’s portrayal of Thor, it’s frequently a lot of fish-out-of-water or situational stuff, although his timing is not half bad.
So, the question remains: Will he be funny? Will he exhibit improv skills? We do know the man is one of the hottest movie stars right now, so it’s not really a surprise that SNL would want to give the actor a shot.
While most hosts appear to promote one project or another, Chris Hemsworth is working a lot right now. The man’s appearance coincides with a couple of upcoming films, including the highly-anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron (which will be released in May), but also In The Heart of the Sea, which will actually hit theaters on March 13. NBC’s press release also makes sure to note the actor is in the Vacation sequel, although since that’s not out until next fall, it should not have anything to do with his SNL appearance. That’s some ninja marketing, though.
During the Chris Hemsworth episode, the Zac Brown Band will also appear as the musical guests. The band put out a Greatest Hits So Far album in 2014, and has already released a single called “Homegrown” from the group’s upcoming 2015 album .
We still have a few weeks to wait before we get to check out Hemsworth’s comedy chops. In the meantime, there is a brand new episode of Saturday Night Live scheduled for this weekend. We learned during the SNL 40 special that Fifty Shades of Grey lead Dakota Johnson will headline the February 28 episode, and she’ll appear opposite the Alabama Shakes.
Tune in to NBC’s SNL on Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. ET.
