Nintendo Directs usually don't reveal anything not strictly gaming-related, and while the September 2021 Nintendo Direct mostly sticks to this routine, it does have one outlier announcement in its lineup. Nintendo is working with Illumination, the studio behind Despicable Me and Minions, to create a full-length animated feature film for its flagship title Super Mario, which, for now, the movie will take its name.
The main duo of Mario and Luigi aren't really talkative in the games. Dialogue in Super Mario typically falls to side characters like Toad and Bowser most of the time, but in this upcoming Super Mario movie, the pair — Mario specifically — will be talking a lot. As such, Nintendo saw fit to reveal the voice cast behind some of the characters appearing in the film, and if the idea of Mario talking up a storm wasn't bizarre enough, the man behind his voice certainly makes it.
Chris Pratt will be voicing Mario in Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario movie. Jack Black will voice Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key will voice Toad, and Seth Rogen will voice Donkey Kong, whose close ties to Mario earned him a spot in this film. Pratt will voice Mario despite Mario's usual voice actor, Charles Martinet, appearing in the film in unannounced surprise cameos. The currently revealed voice cast is as follows:
- Chris Pratt as Mario
- Anya Taylor as Peach
- Jack Black as Bowser
- Charlie Day as Luigi
- Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
- Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
- Charles Martinet as various cameos
Even without any footage or description of the movie's premise, this voice cast makes it fairly easy to see what kind of tone Nintendo has planned for it. Nearly all the actors cast pride themselves in comedic roles, with the odd woman out being Anya Taylor of Queen's Gambit fame. Her history leans more toward dramas but, considering her peers in this film, maybe her role as Peach will be her big comedy debut.
To say the voice cast is interesting would be an understatement. It's next to impossible to imagine Chris Pratt's voice coming out of Mario and claiming it sounds natural. That said, maybe the comedic talent behind the voices will be a pleasant surprise. The bar is set rather low for this Super Mario movie to be good, considering the last Mario-helmed film was an absolute disaster. Hopefully, Nintendo will release voiced promotions for it soon.
The Super Mario movie releases in North America on December 21, 2022.