He’s blown away protestors in Watchmen and cracked open heads in The Walking Dead, but now Jeffrey Dean Morgan may be about to play his most intimidating role to date. We’re hearing that he’s being eyed for the part of video game icon Luigi, perpetual second-fiddle with a big chip on his shoulder. It might sound a bit bizarre, but we know that Nintendo is indeed cooking up some kind of Mario Bros. movie and someone’s got to play these parts, right?
Over the years, Luigi has built up his own personality aside from being a palette-swapped version of Mario who can jump a little higher. In fact, in Mario Kart 8, close analysis of slow-motion footage revealed the ‘Luigi death stare.’Â This determined and sinister expression appears on Luigi’s face whenever he bashes someone with a shell or passes them, exposing the dark fury that secretly lies deep in his heart.
All this is probably why Nintendo realized that the perfect person to capture this is The Walking Dead’s Negan. Of course, Morgan isn’t signed on just yet, and he’s probably not the only one on their list, but he’s certainly someone they’re interested in. And given that this intel comes to us from the same sources who told us Han was returning in Fast & Furious 9 and Ahsoka Tano will cameo in The Mandalorian season 2, both of which were correct, we’ve no reason to doubt it.
Morgan isn’t the only casting news we’ve heard of lately, either, as two weeks ago we got word that Brie Larson was being considered for the role of Princess Peach. How this will all translate to live-action remains to be seen, but anyone familiar with the Bob Hoskins Super Mario Bros. movie will know that they’re playing with fire here. That film tried to translate the Mushroom Kingdom into live-action and ended up with a surreal and nauseating Blade Runner meets fungus dystopia ruled over by Dennis Hopper.
Nintendo was famously horrified by what Hollywood did to Mario last time, too, so expect them to have a direct say in pretty much every aspect of this new movie. But at least the casting sounds pretty interesting so far. Though with names already being thrown around for Luigi and Peach, where’s our Mario? No word yet on who’s being eyed for that role in particular, but as soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to let you know.
