Perhaps Jack Black enjoyed Pedro Pascal playing Mario in an SNL skit as much as we did, because the Bowser actor thinks Pascal would be a great pick to voice the plumber’s archnemesis Wario in a possible sequel to The Super Marios Bros. Movie.
While speaking to GameSpot about returning as Bowser for the follow-up to the animated movie, Black considered the possibility of pulling “a Fast & Furious” and turning babyface. “You know, what if there is a more powerful, more evil villain?” Black said. “Then I may need to be turned to help Mario and the rest to defend our universe against some other unseen force of evil. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Wario. Pedro Pascal is Wario.”
However, Black was sure to caution that “it’s not a given” his character will return, saying, “You know, I did a few Kung Fu Panda movies, and it was a different villain every movie. They may do the same thing.”
Black recently worked with Pascal when he made a cameo alongside Lizzo on the latest episode of the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian. Pascal has been an especially hot commodity of late following his turn as the grizzled apocalypse survivor Joel on HBO’s smash hit The Last of Us, which was officially renewed for Season 2 after just a few episodes.
He promoted the show by hosting SNL back in February, taking the wheel in a sketch that imagined a gritty, post-apocalyptic adaptation of Mario Kart. Watch that skit below.
The Super Mario Bros Movie totaled a whopping $377.6 million worldwide during its opening three-day weekend, surpassing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as the biggest opening weekend for a video game adaptation. It’s no surprise then, that Black’s song from the movie, “Peaches,” has become a dark horse for Song of the Summer.