In its over 40 years on the air, NBC sketch comedy institution Saturday Night Live has naturally featured literally hundreds of celebrity hosts, ranging all the way from the latest flavor of the month that would soon head into obscurity, to certified A-listers and comedy icons. The most exalted sub-group among SNL hosts is the Five-Timers Club; those who have been popular enough to be asked back to host at least five times.
The first person to accomplish the feat of hosting SNL five times was screenwriter, actor, and director Buck Henry, who hosted the show 10 times between January 1976 and November 1977. The second person to make it in - and likely the person most closely associated with the honor - was Steve Martin, who has since hosted the show a total of 15 times, second in number only to Alec Baldwin. The idea of the Five-Timers Club was first mentioned during a classic sketch in a 1990 episode hosted by Tom Hanks, who was himself about to join.
To date, only 16 people have joined the Five-Timers Club, with the most recent being former SNL head writer Tina Fey in December 2015. That is, until now. According to The Wrap, the next entrant into the rather exclusive club will be the MCU's Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson. She is set to host the March 11 episode of SNL, which also features musical guest Lorde. Johansson first hosted SNL back in 2006, and would go on to host episodes in 2007, 2010, and 2015.
Johansson now becomes only the fourth woman to host SNL five times, after Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen, Drew Barrymore, and the aforementioned Tina Fey. Her latest hosting appearance comes just a few weeks ahead of the highly anticipated release of Ghost in the Shell, in which Johansson stars as a cyborg policewoman. An adaptation of a popular Japanese manga series, Ghost in the Shell's casting of Johansson in the lead has drawn some criticism, with some accusing the film of whitewashing. Still, the movie is expected to perform pretty well at the box office, with Johansson's star power playing a big factor.
Johansson's next Black Widow appearance will of course be in next year's blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, alongside basically every major hero to ever take part in the MCU. Talk of a potential Black Widow solo-movie - or perhaps a team-up movie with Hawkeye - persists, but it remains to be seen whether the project will ever actually get of the ground.
SNL season 42 returns to NBC on March 4, hosted by Hidden Figures star Octavia Spencer. Scarlett Johansson hosts for her fifth time on March 11.
Source: The Wrap