SNL turns Pedro Pascal from The Last of Us into a post-apocalyptic Mario

Pedro Pascal has triumphed by starring in a prestigious HBO drama based on a video game, “The Last of Us” and now as a parody he has been hired again.

According to “Saturday Night Live,” this is just the beginning. Guest host Pascal showed off the trailer for his upcoming (and fake) prestige drama based on another iconic video game: an apocalyptic “Mario Kart.”

Pascal played Super Mario who’s turned brooding and cynical now that Bowser (Kenan Thompson) has taken over the kingdom. But he agrees to transport Princess Peach (Chloe Fineman) in a go-kart to Rainbow Road.

Looking out over the wasteland from the passenger seat, Princess Peach asks Mario, “What’s it like here?” Karting here is not a game. If we’re going to make it, we’re going to need all the help we can get,” Mario replies, bringing in a shotgun-wielding Luigi (Mikey Day) for backup.

The duo encounter characters made more complex for the drama, such as 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, okay? I need to feel big.”

After Princess Peach’s kart rolls over a banana peel, she asks what happens if they crash.

“A little boy on a cloud comes with a fishing rod to get you back on the road”, Mario says. Fake reviews were not encouraging about the fake “Mario Kart” trailer. “HBO picked the wrong show to do this.” says a Variety review for the saga.

In the real world, HBO’s “The Last of Us” has received rave reviews from critics and was renewed for a second season last month.