The Last of Us Showrunner Wants Nick Offerman to Voice Wario in the Super Mario Bros. Movie Sequel

A sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is more than a year away, but there's already a name being floated for Wario: The Last of Us Season 1 star and Ron Swanson himself, Nick Offerman.

Speaking to IGN on the red carpet ahead of The Last of Us Season 2 premeire, showrunner Craig Mazin floated Offerman's name as a potential Mario antagonist.

HBO's The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin thinks Wario is misunderstood – and that Nick Offerman should voice Wario in the next Mario movie pic.twitter.com/Idui04BOtB— IGN (@IGN) March 26, 2025

"Nick Offerman would actually do a really good job I think," Mazin said. "Just to bring some gravitas. Because I love Wario and I think he's misunderstood."

Mazin previously said that Wario was his favorite character in Mario Kart. "I want people to understand Wario is the way he is for reasons," Mazin continued. "He's Wario! He's-a gonna win!"

Offerman is perhaps best known for his seven-season run as Ron Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He won an Emmy for his guest role playing Bill in the first season of The Last of Us.

A sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to be released next year. In October, Toad voice actor Keegan-Michael Key teased that the follow-up film will feature some Nintendo characters that are “really deep cuts.”

The record-breaking The Super Mario Bros. Movie features a long list of Nintendo characters, but still some were left on the table. In an interview with Men's Journal, Key said the sequel will include characters that weren’t in the first film, some of which should please the most hardcore of Nintendo fans.

“I feel like what they've done creatively is they've really widened out the universe that these characters live in and we're going to meet some new folks,” Key said.

“We're going to meet some new folks that are old favorites and some folks that I think are really deep cuts, but because of the way the story's laying itself out right now, those characters are going to be very intriguing.”

But who? Nintendo fans have speculated about all sorts of characters who’d fit the "deep cut" bill, ranging from more well-known picks such as Bowser Jr and Rosalina to Tatanga and Toadette. For now, we don’t know who exactly to expect, but Key did say the second movie is “a little broader in scope, and where it takes place is very intriguing lore and the Mario world.”

Nintendo and Illumination announced the next Super Mario Bros. Movie last year with a release date of April 3, 2026. While not much was revealed, it was confirmed that The Super Mario Bros. Movie directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic will return.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto said at the time: "We'll let you know the details once we're ready to share more. This time too, the staff at Illumination and Nintendo are working together. We're thinking about broadening Mario's world further, and it'll have a bright and fun story. We hope you'll look forward to it!"

Before the sequel was confirmed, Bowser voice actor Jack Black, who's set to star in A Minecraft Movie as Steve, said he’d like to show off more of his vocal chops in any follow up, as he had pitched the idea of a musical titled Bowser's Revenge. "I think it should be a full musical, like what Todd Phillips is supposedly doing with Joker 2," he said.

Bowser's romantic ode to Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Movie became an instant hit, landing a place on the Billboard Hot 100, but Black was initially hesitant about singing in the film. He told IGN that he tries "not to do too many crossovers" where his characters sing, but he couldn't pass up a love song.

The Last of Us Season 2, meanwhile, debuts April 13, 2025.

Michael Peyton is the Director of Events and Partnerships at IGN, where he leads coverage for tentpole events including San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He's spent over 15 years working in the entertainment industry, and his red carpet adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on socials @MichaelPeyton