After several delays, the Super Mario Bros. movie is now only six months away. Many fans are cautiously optimistic about this collaboration between Nintendo and Illumination, makers of animated film franchises like Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing. Featuring a host of celebrity voice actors including Chris Pratt, Jack Black, and Anya Taylor-Joy, this movie promises to be unlike anything the Super Mario Bros. franchise has seen yet.
The Super Mario Bros. film will have a trailer premiered at New York Comic Con on October 6, and there will be an associated Nintendo Direct airing around the same time. Nintendo and Illumination know it's going to be a big deal, and are treating it with the appropriate pomp and circumstance. To announce the Nintendo Direct, the companies have released a poster featuring Mario seen from behind as he looks up at Toad Town and Peach's Castle. This is the first look at the Mario movie's art style, and there are a lot of surprising details packed into this one image.
The Mario Movie Poster Teases Characters and Adventures
Story teasers seem to be carefully omitted from this poster. The Super Mario Bros. movie poster simply offers a look at the new art style and a principal location, that being the core of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario is seen alongside a particular Toad wearing a red cap and possibly a blue vest, the classic Toad look. However, this Toad is also wearing a backpack that calls an image of Captain Toad to mind. It's likely that this is the primary Toad voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, standing in for all the playable Toads throughout the Mario series.
It seems this Toad is showing Mario around Toad Town, which may hint at this movie's plot and where it falls in the Mario timeline. The existence of Foreman Spike and Donkey Kong in the cast implies Mario may have been living elsewhere, possibly in Brooklyn or New Donk City. The Mario brothers' house is typically portrayed as being in the countryside close to Toad Town, so this makes some degree of sense. Although this probably isn't an isekai story, it may show Mario's first foray into the Mushroom Kingdom proper, and thus the beginning of his relationship with Peach and Bowser. Regardless, fans will need to wait until October 6 to see this more realistic Mario's face and voice.
Tons of Secrets are Hidden in the Mario Movie Poster
Aside from these two focal characters and the broad setting, there are an enormous number of small details worked into the Super Mario Bros. movie poster. It appears that an effort has been made to portray this Mushroom Kingdom as a combination of every appearance it has ever had. The setting is a hilly and mountainous area where most things are rounded and covered in dots or stripes, like a combination of New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 3D Land. Toad Town is laid out like a sprawling Mario Bros. level, with pipes and floating platforms everywhere. It's even possible to see Toads interacting with Question Blocks or floating donut platforms, confirming that platformer gameplay is just normal life in the Mario universe.
Most viewers' eyes will be drawn to the antique shop in the bottom left, holding voxel representations of classic Mario items. From the old key to some music boxes, a lot of nostalgia is packed into the stall. Right behind that is a Yoshi egg in a sealed case, and on the other side of the street is a store offering various fruits that Mario Party and Sunshine fans may recognize.
Other details include a warp cannon on a floating island in the top left, a winged Question Block flying through the air, and Toads holding stacks of coins as well as a bagged Cheep Cheep in the foreground. Even the docile Biddybud enemies can be seen wandering through the street. With a landscape that looks appropriate for any 3D Mario title and a castle reminiscent of Mario 64's iconic setting, this is the highest fidelity the Mario universe has received yet. Hopefully the final Super Mario Bros. movie and its upcoming trailer will also deliver on the poster's massive promise.
The Super Mario Bros. movie is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 7, 2023.