Jeremy Culhane resurrected his Tucker Carlson impression on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, bringing the recurring character back for Season 52's first "Weekend Update" segment to skewer Hollywood's summer blockbusters.
The bit targeted three major releases with Carlson's trademark conspiratorial tone. On Denis Villeneuve's "The Odyssey," Culhane's Carlson fixated on technical filmmaking choices, specifically mocking the use of Imax 70mm format as evidence of some deeper cultural agenda. The impression leaned into Carlson's tendency to treat aesthetic decisions as symptoms of ideological corruption.
The character also took aim at Marvel's latest Spider-Man installment, framing the studio's approach to gender-neutral storytelling as part of a coordinated Hollywood push. Culhane played the Carlson persona as perpetually convinced that entertainment industry decisions stem from sinister left-wing plotting rather than standard creative or commercial reasoning.
This marks a return for Culhane's Carlson impression, which has become one of the show's most reliable political comedy vehicles. The character works because it exaggerates Carlson's actual rhetorical style: taking mundane creative choices, amplifying them into evidence of cultural warfare, and presenting them with unwavering conviction. SNL's writers crafted the bit to echo Carlson's real on-air persona, where he frequently suggests that mainstream media operates as a unified left-wing machine.
The timing lands as SNL heads into its 52nd season with Jerrod Carmichael hosting and Olivia Rodrigo as musical guest for the premiere. "Weekend Update" remains the show's most topical segment, and booking recurring political impressions like Culhane's Carlson serves multiple functions: it delivers crowd-pleasing impressionist comedy, comments on media figures who drive cultural conversation, and creates predictable recurring segments that audiences anticipate.
Culhane has built a reputation for sharp political impressions beyond just Carlson, but this character stands as one of his most developed and frequently deployed. The impression's effectiveness depends partly on how recognizable Carlson's actual speaking patterns and worldview remain to SNL's audience. The joke lands when viewers catch the exaggeration of a real public figure's tendency to frame entertainment as ideological warfare.
The bit also reflects how SNL continues to mine contemporary media criticism for comedy. By having Culhane's Carlson review actual summer releases, the writers positioned the impression within real-world entertainment discourse rather than creating purely fictional scenarios. This grounds the satire and makes the critique of Carlson's style of analysis sharper.
For Marvel and Villeneuve, the SNL mention represents mainstream cultural commentary on their creative choices. While the bit exists to mock Carlson's interpretive lens rather than to genuinely critique the films themselves, it signals that blockbuster decisions around representation and technical presentation continue to animate cultural debate.
The return of this impression at Season 52's launch suggests SNL plans to maintain its focus on media criticism and political figures who influence entertainment discourse. Culhane's Carlson will likely resurface throughout the season whenever new releases invite the same conspiratorial framing the bit specializes in deconstructing.