Oscars 2025: Deadpool and a Sandworm join Conan O’Brien’s opening song—users lose it over the absurd crossover

The 97th Academy Awards, which took place on March 2, 2025, had a notable opening monologue by host Conan O'Brien. During his performance, O'Brien introduced two surprise guests: Deadpool from the film Deadpool & Wolverine and a sandworm from Dune: Part Two.

This surprise appearance was included in a musical number called I Won't Waste Time, which was intended to reassure the audience that the ceremony would remain on track. Ironically, of course.

As expected, social media erupted in laughter, with some cracking jokes, others going full roast mode, and the rest just losing it completely.

A user joked:

"I guess Marvel's only presence at this year's Oscars."

They said, fine, if we can’t win one, we’ll just show up anyway.

A user said:

"…and it wasted our time."

Congrats, you just figured out the joke.

A user mentioned:

"This feels like a dream you wake up from confused and sweating. 😭"

This is the kind of dream that only happens when you fall asleep with the TV on.

A user commented:

"That sounds hilarious and epic, What a wild combo."

If this was a movie, we’d watch it in IMAX.

One user said:

"This would give a Victorian child a heart attack."

Imagine explaining this scene to someone in 1823.

A user went on to say:

"I am nowhere near awake enough to see this."

Neither was Conan when he pitched this idea.

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Deadpool and a sandworm walk into the Oscars…

O'Brien's musical number, I Won’t Waste Time, featured backup dancers sporting golden Conan-esque wigs, because, obviously, we needed that visual.

But the true showstoppers were Deadpool pirouetting across the stage like a budget Swan Lake and a sandworm from Dune: Part Two tickling the ivories with Chopsticks.

A sandworm. On a piano. The internet is still recovering.

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Deadpool’s at Oscars 2025

Deadpool’s appearance was a nod to Deadpool & Wolverine, which raked in over $1.3 billion but was mostly ignored by the Academy.

Additionally, Ryan Reynolds was nowhere to be found. But Deadpool’s commitment to breaking the fourth wall extends to the Oscars.

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The sandworm’s Oscar snub

Speaking of being overlooked, the Dune: Part Two sandworm may have had five nominations for the film but tragically missed out on Best Supporting (for Best Supporting what, exactly, remains unclear).

Despite this injustice, the sandworm still made its way to the stage.

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Conan O'Brien's monologue: Hollywood satire at its finest

The monologue kicked off with O'Brien making a grand entrance—literally emerging from Demi Moore’s back in a parody of The Substance.

Once Conan O'Brien wrapped up his musical, promising to keep things moving (while simultaneously doing the opposite), he launched into a roast session.

He addressed the Karla Sofía Gascón controversy by comparing her publicist’s use of the F-word to Anora's record-breaking expletive count.

“Three more than the record set by Karla Sofía Gascón’s publicist.”

Taking a jab at Karla’s controversy, he said:

“Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

Then there was Timothée Chalamet, who showed up in a blindingly bright yellow suit. Conan assured him that, at the very least, he wouldn’t get hit by a bike that night.

Without saying certain names, he joked about Anora, quipping:

“I suppose Americans are thrilled to see somebody finally take on a strong Russian.”

O'Brien also took a jab at Netflix's ever-rising prices and Hollywood's growing anxiety over artificial intelligence. Rest assured, no AI was used in the making of this roast.

"Netflix leads nominations with a total of 18 price increases," he quipped.

After an evening of satire and spectacle, the evening's host took a rare serious moment to acknowledge the hardships faced by Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers due to devastating wildfires.