Pedro Pascal raced through an apocalyptic version of Mario Kart during Saturday Night Live.
The episode took notes from Pascal’s current HBO series The Last of Us with a fake trailer for another upcoming HBO prestige drama: Mario Kart. But instead of smuggling the potential cure to the zombie apocalypse across the United States, Pascal must smuggle Princess Peach through the ruins of Rainbow Road, the final course of the Special Cup in Super Mario.
Pascal plays a hardened version of the iconic video game character, who has become cynical since Bowser took control of the kingdom. He’s willing to take on the job, but he warns that the journey won’t be easy.
“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 says to Peach. He, of course, brings in Luigi for back up.
The trailer teases that viewers will see “all your favorite wacky racers reimagined as complex, dramatic HBO characters.”
That includes Yoshi and Toad, both of whom proclaim that they are bisexual. After Toad sacrifices himself when Bowser sends a red turtle shell hurtling toward them, Peach expresses worry about whether they’ll make it out alive.
But Mario reassures her that, should they crash, a small man with a fishing pole will be there to lift them back onto the track.
The trailer wouldn’t be complete without some reviews, which hilariously skewer the show. “HBO picked the wrong show to do this with,” one of them reads.
