Mario Movie promises weird and wonderful sequel with ‘deep cut’ characters
Birdo fans, rise.
02nd Oct 2024 16:50
Images via Illumination | Nintendo
Mario Movie promises weird and wonderful sequel with ‘deep cut’ characters
Birdo fans, rise.
02nd Oct 2024 16:50
Images via Illumination | Nintendo
If there's a major surprise to come from the recent surge in video game movie adaptations, it's that The Super Mario Bros. Movie was actually pretty good. As soon as we saw Chris Pratt cast as the portly plumber, we were worried this was going to be another cursed outing akin to the 1993 Mario movie.
Instead, we were pleasantly surprised as Illumination's cartoon caper serves as a trip down memory lane for fans of Mario and the wider Nintendo universe. Giving us Easter eggs alongside Yoshi eggs, The Super Mario Bros. Movie soared past Detective Pikachu to become the highest-grossing movie based on a video game.
Mario Movie sequel promises 'deep cut' characters
Keagan Micheal Key has made news about the Super Mario Bros movie 2
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While there had been talk of sequel and spin-offs for the likes of Charlie Day's Luigi and Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong before the movie even came out, we had to wait until Mario Day (March 10) 2024 for it to be confirmed. As we twiddle our thumbs ahead of its April 3, 2026, release date, the Mario marketing machine is already rumbling forward.
In an interview with Men's Journal, Toad himself (Keegan Michael-Key) spilt a tonne of details and promised deep cut characters as new additions to the already groaning cast. Michael-Key said the sequel will be "a little broader in scope, and where it takes place is very intriguing lore and the Mario world."
As well as hyping "really fantastic Easter eggs," he said the writers have "really widened out the universe that these characters live in and we're going to meet some new folks." Before you start drawing up a wishlist of fan-favourites like Wario, Bowser Jr., and Princess Daisy, you might want to start looking further afield.
Michael-Key concluded, "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."
When the news was shared on Reddit, fans were quick to pull together their dream list of obscure Marioverse characters they'd like to see. After concept art suggested Toadsworth was cut from the first movie, Princess Peach's longstanding steward became a standout choice for the sequel.
Super Mario Land's extraterrestrial Tatanga and Super Mario Bros. 2's Wart were also namedropped. As for the potential introduction of the star-loving Rosalina, someone else mused, "I think it’s still early to introduce Rosalina in the Mario movie until at least the 3rd one due to how much she would expand the Mario universe."
Another cheered, "If Kristen Schaal isn't Toadette we riot," seeing the potential of the Gravity Falls actor to star alongside Michael-Key. There was a clever mention of the Koopalings, suggesting Bowser's piano could hint at the musical kids of Larry, Morton, Wendy, Iggy, Roy, Lemmy, and Ludwig freeing him from his cage.
We'd also be amiss if we didn't mention the beloved Birdo. You don't come much more obscure than the origin story of the prehistoric dinosaur, and considering The Super Mario Bros. Movie's cliffhanger ending teased Yoshi, we're convinced there will be plenty of dinos popping up next time around.
Even though the first movie seemed to be jam-packed with obscure additions ranging from Chunky Kong to Foreman Spike, it sounds like that's nothing compared to the weird and wonderful cavalcade of colourful characters ready to jump out of the warp pipe in the sequel.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
