The blockbuster success of Nintendo’s new Super Mario Bros. Movie has likely guaranteed a galaxy of spin-offs and sequels will follow – and that’s on top of the end-credits tease already sitting at the film.
There are several moments where the Super Mario Bros. Movie seems to set up characters and plot elements for future film entries – while the lack of story in this initial movie has come under criticism.
Join us as we take a look beyond this rather safe – albeit still enjoyable – new step by Nintendo into the world of cinema, and consider where the Super Mario Bros. Movie series will most likely head next… as well as where we hope it doesn’t.
Spoiler warning: Discussion of the Super Mario Bros. Movie’s plot and ending lies below.
Yoshi
Let’s get the obvious one out the way first: Yoshi. The end of the Super Mario Bros. Movie shows a Yoshi egg hatching underneath the streets of Brooklyn. Eagle-eyed viewers will have spotted the same egg on Bowser’s table of wedding gifts towards the end of the film.
Who gave Bowser the egg? What will become of a Yoshi born underneath “real-world” New York? It seems inevitable the next time we see Mario’s world, we’ll get some of these answers.
Rosalina
Nintendo fans had suspected the series’ popular space-faring Princess to appear in the Mario movie, after it was revealed the film would feature a Luma – the child-like star-shaped race that Rosalina looks after.
A further hint at Rosalina comes as Mario and Peach discuss their backgrounds, and Mario suggests they were originally from the same world. After all, they are both seemingly human. Instead, Peach suggests otherwise, and states that there are “plenty of galaxies out there”, hinting perhaps at the Super Mario Galaxy debut of Rosalina and the Lumas.
Galaxy never explicitly confirmed a link between Peach and Rosalina, though the storybook retelling of Rosalina’s background hints that the two could have been related.
Donkey Kong
While Donkey Kong is already a major character in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, past reports have suggested the anti-hero ape may get an entire spin-off of his own. A larger focus on DK would also make sense, since it is set to be the second major area to open at Universal Studios Japan’s Super Nintendo World park in 2024, following the very Mario Movie-like Mushroom Kingdom.
The Mario Movie spends a chunk of its time laying down the basics of the Kong Kingdom, and establishing a series of other Kongs (more on those in a minute) who could act as secondary players in a DK-centric story.
Diddy and Dixie Kong
One of the film’s most obvious setups is the naming of Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong during its Kong arena sequence – only for neither character to appear again for the rest of the movie. Why else would these characters be called out by name, if not to establish them as faces for future use?
Polterpup and the Luigi’s Mansion gang
Ideas for a Luigi’s Mansion film have apparently been discussed – and the initial area of the Mushroom Kingdom which Luigi plops out into looks perfect to house the kind of creepy mansion he might explore. If you’re yet to play the more recent Luigi’s Mansion games, there’s a fresh cast of supporting characters for Nintendo to mine here, including lovable ghost dog Polterpup, the diminuitive Professor E. Gadd and the rubbery Gooigi.
Wario and Waluigi
Fake leaks ahead of the Super Mario Bros. Movie’s release suggested we’d see a Wanted poster for Wario and Waluigi at the end of the film’s credits – and rather thankfully, that was not to be.
Jack Black’s Bowser is brilliant as the main antagonist of the film, and the fact he’s left hanging around, albeit shrunk down in size, suggests it will be him bothering Mario again in future installments. I’m not sure Wario and Waluigi would work as characters next to those other happy Mario family members – or who might voice them if not Charles Martinet.
Birdo
If Birdo can appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we can live in hope.
What would you like to see in a Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel?
