It’s almost difficult to believe, considering the internet has spent the past year bashing Chris Pratt being tapped to play Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but the film will be hitting cinema screens in just over half a year’s time.
With the recent reveal of the film’s trailer, we thought it would be an opportune time to recap exactly which characters are confirmed to be appearing on the silver screen alongside Mario in what is shaping up to be at the very least, a much less disastrous big screen appearance for Nintendo’s poster boy plumber.
Mario (Chris Pratt)
The titular plumber himself, as you almost certainly know, will be played by Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World: Dominion star Chris Pratt. The internet has been supremely doubtful of this casting choice, with a wide expectation for Pratt to drop the ball with this adaptation. While the trailer revealed that the ball is intact, it’s not exactly rocketing toward success either. Pratt is pretty much just holding it, from what we’ve seen so far.
Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy)
The generally-in-distress Princess from the video games will be portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, best known for her role as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit. While we’re unsure of how Illumination and Nintendo plan to tackle the character of Peach, having not been present in the reveal trailer, we do know Taylor-Joy is a fantastic actress.
Luigi (Charlie Day)
Mario’s taller, sassier brother will be portrayed by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Charlie Day, portraying an eccentric and sometimes deranged Charlie Kelly on the long-running fan-favorite sitcom. While all we got from Day during the first trailer were a few audible efforts as he runs from a horde of Dry Bones, they certainly sounded like a good fit for the character.
Bowser (Jack Black)
Easily the fan-favorite of the New York Comic Con trailer, Jack Black’s booming and dominant portrayal of Mario’s nemesis is looking to be the absolute highlight of the upcoming movie, should the rest of the cast and overarching story fail to stick the landing. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Black has stellar voice acting chops, given his work on the Kung Fu Panda films.
Toad (Keegan-Michael Key)
Princess Peach’s attendant and long-time ally to Mario and friends will be portrayed by Keegan-Michael Key, co-creator and co-star to Jordan Peele in the sketch series Key & Peele. Key has also appeared alongside Chris Pratt in the past during the Parks & Recreation days as Donna Meagle’s love interest. In the trailer, it is evident Key’s voice has been pitched up a little in post-production, but he’s sounding good.
Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen)
Another notable absentee from the first trailer was Donkey Kong, played by Seth Rogen. The actor’s writing and acting credits in the field of comedy are quite extensive, appearing in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Pineapple Express, This is the End, and Sausage Party, just to name a handful. We can see Rogen doing the iconic video game gorilla justice, but we’ll have to wait a little longer for any sort of confirmation on that take.
Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen)
Donkey Kong’s grandfather will be played by long-time SNL alum Fred Armisen, who is a comedic powerhouse, having created some of the most hilarious moments in a number of beloved sitcoms including 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine. An impressive feat, considering in most of the above cases titles, Armisen only appears in singular episodes or scenes. We can’t wait to hear the undoubtedly quotable one-liners Armisen will bring to Cranky Kong.
Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson)
Bowser’s advisor and high-ranking Magikoopa Kamek was the first character we had the pleasure of hearing in the first Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer, and is being played by Kevin Michael Richardson. While we only got one line, Richardson sounds appropriately mystical and reverent of his big boss. Generally known for playing deep-voiced villains in various animated movies and TV shows, Richardson is flexing his voiceover chops in this film by giving an airier, more nasally performance to Kamek.
Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco)
The aptly named spike-spewing Koopa was not seen in the initial trailer, but we do know Bowser’s goon will be played by stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco, who has played supporting roles in Green Book and The Irishman. Not a whole lot is known about Spike or Maniscalco’s involvement at the time of writing, but if he can bring the same comedic timing to Spike as he does to his standup, we’re sure to be in for a treat.
Penguin King (Khary Payton)
It seems that despite his tenure as a king on The Walking Dead, Khary Payton isn’t quite done playing royalty just yet, having lent his talents to voicing the Penguin King as seen in the trailer. Besides the fact that Payton and his penguin pals appear to be out of their depth while defending against Bowser and his army of Koopas, we don’t know much else about the character, however fans are absolutely loving him and his penguin pals.
Koopas
While we didn’t spot any Goombas in the trailer, we can say with absolute certainty that there’ll be hordes upon hordes of Koopas for Mario and friends to face off against, with Bowser arriving at the Penguin King’s city with a literal army of them. Not that he needed his cannon fodder to begin with, with Kamek immobilizing the penguins singlehandedly, then blasting down the gates to the city with a roar of flames.
Dry Bones
The ‘one last thing’ of the trailer saw Luigi in a bit of a predicament fleeing from a horde of Dry Bones, a skeletal and perhaps zombified variation of Koopas. These guys tend to appear in the spookier settings in Mario games, such as towers and castles – but we read that last little morsel involving Luigi and Dry Bones as a bit of a nod to Luigi’s Mansion. No doubt Luigi will encounter a Boo or two behind whatever door he slams shut behind him at the end of that trailer.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie drops into cinemas April 7.
