‘Saturday Night Live’ posts ominous first promo with Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch fans, rest assured that “Saturday Night Live” knows very well that you’ve been wanting to see Benedict Cumberbatch in as host of the show for a rather long time. The latest evidence of this comes in the new promo below.

This one is extremely ominous, and carries with it an enormous amount of dramatic weight as the actor proclaims “we meet at last” before approaching the famous stage. The music behind his sounds perfect for either “Sherlock” or “Doctor Strange,” but Cumberbatch’s response to all of the hype here is amazing: A swear word bleeped out for the sake of the promo.

Benedict’s “SNL” debut is coming at a great time given the debut of “Doctor Strange” in theaters over the coming weeks, but we also do think that it could work out well just from the vantage point of escapism. Think about things in this way: Everybody’s starting to get a little sick of all things politics dominating the airwaves. Giving you an alternative this weekend should be a necessity for “SNL,” even if we’re sure that Alec Baldwin will make one appearance as Donald Trump. After the election, we can only hope that the show has a chance to move on to some other things; sure, this show in particular is known for delivering some pretty wonderful political parodies, but at the same time, haven’t you heard the expression “all good things come to an end”? Everything out there does have an expiration date, and the same can be said for political humor.

Among the things we’d love to see this weekend include a Martin Freeman cameo (he did previously host the show), a “Sherlock” spoof, and a few chances for Cumberbatch to go completely silly given that so many of his characters are known for utter seriousness.

Here’s to hoping that Benedict at least comes close to Tom Hanks and the magnificence of David S. Pumpkins — any questions? (Photo: NBC.)