The Super Mario Bros. Movie has taken the world by storm, breaking a number of box office records and exciting many fans of the Illumination movie over what could come next for the franchise on the big screen. While many fans are looking forward primarily to a Mario sequel, there are a lot of other possibilities for where the franchise could go next.
A plethora of Mario characters were introduced in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and it would be easy for Illumination to move forward with some of these other characters for their own movies. It is also possible that another Mario-focused movie could take a complete turn for the franchise.
6 Luigi’s Mansion
Luigi didn’t get as much focus in an adventure sense in The Super Mario Bros Movie as some of the other characters. While Peach, Toad, and even Donkey Kong joined Mario on his adventure as he sought to take down Bowser, Luigi spent a great deal of the movie in a literal cage. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a sequel or spin-off which gives Luigi his own focus.
The Super Mario Bros Movie did a great job of showing off various Easter Eggs and references to other Mario and Mario character games. It even nodded toward Luigi’s own somewhat horror-focused game series, Luigi’s Mansion. While this adventure initially involved Luigi trying to find Mario in a haunted house, the various realms introduced in The Super Mario Bros Movie provide an easy method for Luigi to get lost on his own adventure in a future spin-off movie with a really fun aesthetic and theme to it.
5 Super Princess Peach
Anya Taylor-Joy is a huge star who will likely be a Hollywood mainstay for many years, so it isn’t surprising that her casting as Peach led to a larger role for the Princess than she would often receive in Mario games. Her role as a mentor to Mario and a companion to him in his big-screen adventure is a far cry from the Peach of old, who was often captured by Bowser and hardly shown throughout the game.
Fortunately, there is a template for bringing this version of Peach to the forefront in her own big-screen adventure. Super Princess Peach was a video game released for the Nintendo DS in 2005 which featured Peach rescuing Mario and Luigi from Bowser in a reversal of the normal damsel in distress trope. It would be exciting and even logical after seeing how capable Peach’s character was in The Super Mario Bros Movie to have a spin-off featuring Peach in her own adventure.
4 Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong was a character who got plenty of focus in the second half of The Super Mario Bros Movie. Seth Rogen is another big star who was brought in to voice a classic character, one who interestingly is better known for his own spin-off franchise these days than he is for having been involved with Mario.
Donkey Kong and his family have a whole world, which was shown off quite well throughout The Super Mario Bros Movie in an exciting sequence. Establishing key Mario components like the old school level in the battle arena and the karts that the Kong people use as part of their lore makes it all the easier to potentially have a film focused on Donkey Kong Country and the big ape’s other video game adventures.
3 A Bowser Musical Movie
One character featured in The Super Mario Bros Movie who doesn’t often receive a lot of focus as a protagonist is Bowser. Jack Black’s hilarious performance as the fiery turtle has garnered a lot of praise, with many fans and critics alike saying that Black was the stand-out of the movie.
This being the case, it would be surprising if future Mario projects leave Bowser in the predicament he finds himself at the conclusion of The Super Mario Bros Movie. Instead, if not returning as a villain to trouble Mario and his friends further, Bowser should get the chance to appear in his own project. It could perhaps be musically focused somehow, given the great success of the Peaches song featured in the movie. Alternatively, it could be a villainous adventure similar to other recent movies like Joker and Morbius, which have focused on villains as anti-heroic characters.
2 Yoshi’s Story
Yoshi didn’t appear in The Super Mario Bros Movie, technically. Although the post-credits scene may have teased that the lovable green dinosaur will be appearing at the earliest opportunity, the role that Yoshi will play in the franchise is, as yet, unknown.
This doesn’t mean that Yoshi will be restricted to just being a sidekick for Mario, though. In the past, the adorable Yoshi has found great success in games like Yoshi’s Story and Yoshi’s Island. These games provide excellent templates for how Illumination could build a future Yoshi movie. Quite apart from anything else, their history with Minions spinning out from the Despicable Me franchise proves that Illumination loves this type of character.
1 Super Smash Bros
There have been a lot of rumblings since the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie about what this franchise and the potential for other similar movies could be leading to. While there are a lot of great stories from Mario games that can unite many characters together, the biggest adventure and largest potential cinematic crossover in history would be Super Smash Bros.
A fighting game that contains a huge number of characters from a variety of gaming franchises, including Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy, to name but a few, Super Smash Bros is the ultimate dream movie for many gaming fans. It could happen, albeit in some limited form, as it would be difficult to introduce every character who has appeared in the Super Smash Bros franchise to date.
The Super Mario Bros Movie was released on April 5th, 2023, and is currently available in cinemas.