The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal made his Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Saturday night, and there was no way he was going to get through that episode without appearing in some kind of sketch of the popular HBO series. That came in the form of a parody trailer for Mario Kart, another video game series adaptation from HBO starring Pascal. In the faux trailer, which combines elements from Super Mario Bro.s and puts them into a Last of Us-like post-apocalyptic world, Pascal stars as a grittier version of the titular plumber. Watch the trailer below, via SNL on YouTube.
The trailer follows a group of survivors trying to help a princess get to Rainbow Road, a popular track from the Mario Kart video games. Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) takes on a role similar to that of Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, as Mario is tasked with escorting her across a dangerous wasteland. The trailer sees the two traversing through a dark version of the Mushroom Kingdom, with some special appearances from some other familiar faces like Bowser (Kenan Thompson), Luigi (Mikey Day), and Yoshi (Bowen Yang).
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Pascal had also acknowledged The Last of Us ahead of the episode. A teaser had been released online revealing Pascal on the SNL set where he encounters a “clicker” from the TV show. Channeling his Joel character, Pascal prepares to dispatch the clicker before the SNL cast informs him that the zombie-like creature has been added to the cast of the show, much to Pascal’s surprise.
The Last of Us Is a Hit for HBO
It’s not a surprise to see SNL taking on The Last of Us this way, given how the show has quickly become immensely popular. Ahead of its fourth episode, the series has been garnering widespread acclaim and high viewership. That viewership only continues to rise higher and higher with each episode, increasing by 12% with its audience for episode 3 compared to episode 2. Episode 4 debuts on Feb. 5.
Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros. is getting its own adaptation on the big screen, but it won’t be anything like the above trailer from Saturday Night Live. The animated feature film, The Super Mario. Bros Movie, features Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as the voices of the titular characters alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Jack Black as Bowser, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. It’s set to hit theaters on April 28, and you can see the real trailer for that movie below.
