Baby Yoda is everywhere these days, even your Christmas tree if you’re crafty. Which means it was inevitable that he showed up on Saturday Night Live to… call out Baby Groot?
Unlike South Park, which doesn’t seem to approve of the cutest character in The Mandalorian, the sketch comedy show on NBC is much more enthusiastic about Baby Yoda, which showed up on Weekend Update on Saturday. Michael Che introduced the creature, which was not a puppet but a castmember in some heavy green makeup and a custom bonnet.
The bit started with some enthusiastic waves of three-fingered plastic Yoda hands, then some of the soft noises that have served as the most the character has said through six episodes of The Mandalorian. But after a while, Baby Yoda started talking. And he had plenty to say about his crew and upcoming endorsement deals.
“I’ve been blessed, I’ve been blessed. People are liking the show, all the memes and the fans, some sliding into some DMs.” Yoda said, very different from the inverted dialogue he uses elsewhere in the Star Wars universe.
Baby Yoda then broke down his “squad,” which included a doctored photo of him Timothee Chalamet, Robert Pattinson and “the two guys from the Sonic commercials.”
Perhaps the most alarming moment of the sketch, which was a bit disturbing if you went into it expecting the actual adorable Baby Yoda, was when Baby Yoda called out another young member of the Disney universe.
“Baby Groot, do me a favor,” Yoda said. “Keep my name out your little tree mouth before I snap you like a twig.”
It’s clear that the SNL version is a lot more aggressive than the one from The Mandalorian. Definitely looking forward to that Netflix stand-up special, though.
