SNL fans left baffled and impressed by Joe Biden impression in season premiere

Saturday Night Live newcomer James Austin Johnson received a lot of attention for his portrayal of Joe Biden

It’s the new season premiere of SNL tonight (October 2) and fans were confused at who played Joe Biden in the show’s opening sketch.

The 47th season of the long-running comedy show saw an opening featuring an actor disguised as Joe Biden and it took fans on Twitter some time to work out who it was.

One Twitter user wrote: “My family is in a major disagreement. Is this Owen Wilson as Biden?” While a second wrote: “Is that Owen Wilson playing Biden?”

A third added: “I think it’s Owen Wilson playing Biden but I’m not sure.”

You can see some of the initial reaction here:

However, fans and viewers of the show later started to point out that it was in fact new SNL cast member, James Austin Johnson.

“New cast member James Austin Johnson opens the 47th season of SNL as the new Joe Biden” CNN’s Frank Pallotta tweeted, adding: “And this isn’t even Johnson’s best impression. His Trump is possibly the best in the country, which leads me to wonder if Trump runs again could Johnson pull a Dana Carvey and play both roles?”

Many fans were impressed by the accuracy of the impression with one calling it “stunning” and another saying it was “the best I’ve ever seen”. However, some did say they preferred Jim Carey’s impression from last season.

You can some of the responses here:

SNL recently unveiled the cast of its new season, with Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt both leaving the show.

Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, and Kenan Thompson will all be returning along with the rest of the show’s ensemble – Michael Che, Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, Heidi Gardner, Colin Jost, Alex Moffat, Kyle Mooney, Ego Nwodim, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor, and Bowen Yang.

Three more hosts have been unveiled too to follow up on Wilson: Kim Kardashian West will host on 9 October, followed by Rami Malek the following week, and Jason Sudeikis on 23 October.