'SNL' shows apocalyptic 'Mario Kart': Pedro Pascal's next HBO video game drama after 'Last of Us'
Pedro Pascal has hit it big starring in an HBO drama based on a video game, "The Last of Us."
According to "Saturday Night Live," this is just the beginning. Guest host Pascal showed off the trailer for his next upcoming (and fake) prestige drama based on another iconic video game – an apocalyptic "Mario Kart."
Pascal starred as Super Mario turned brooding and cynical now that Bowser (Kenan Thompson) has taken over the kingdom. But he agrees to transport Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) by go-kart to Rainbow Road.
Looking over the wasteland from the passenger seat, Princess Peach asks Mario, "What's it like out here?"
“Karting out here isn’t a game. If we’re going to make it, we’re going to need all the help we can get," Mario responds, bringing in a shotgun-toting Luigi (Mikey Day) for backup.
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The duo encounters characters made more complex for the drama, like hipster Yoshi (Bowen Yang), who proudly announces, "I’m bisexual." (Toad makes the same proclamation).
When Mario chews on a character-enlarging Mega Mushroom, he proclaims, "It makes me feel big, OK? I need to feel big."
After Princess Peach’s go-kart spins out over a banana peel, she asks what happens if they crash.
"A little guy on a cloud comes with a fishing pole to put you back on the road," says Mario.
The fake review blurbs were not encouraging about the trailer. "HBO picked the wrong show to do this with," a Variety review reads for the saga.
In the real world, HBO's "The Last of Us" has received outstanding critical acclaim and was renewed for a second season last month.
Pedro Pascal compares 'The Last of Us' to 'White Lotus' in 'SNL' monologue
During his opening host "SNL" monologue, Pascal compared working on the post-apocalyptic "The Last of Us" to HBO's hit show "The White Lotus."
"For some HBO shows, you get to shoot in a five-star Italian resort surrounded by beautiful people, but I said, ‘No, that’s too easy,' " Pascal said. “I wanna shoot in a freezing Canadian forest while being chased around by a guy whose head looks like a genital wart.”
Pascal said he was proud to work on hit shows like "The Mandalorian" and "Game of Thrones." But working on "Mandalorian" led to one difficult fan experience.
"The next thing I know I’m FaceTiming with a 6-year-old, who has no idea who I am because my character wears a mask for the entire show," Pascal explained. "So, the guy’s like, ‘Just do the Mando voice,’ but the Mando voice is like a bedroom voice. Without the mask, it just sounds porny. So, people walking by on the street just see me whispering to a 6-year-old kid, ‘I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.'"
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'SNL': Pedro Pascal leads HBO's next video game drama 'Mario Kart'
