Nintendo released the second trailer forThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, and although Chris Pratt’s voice remains a big talking point for lifelong fans, with it also came the unveiling of the film’s official characters posters.Both previews for theMariomovie have been dropped as part of special Nintendo Direct events, but the second one’s longer runtime made room for Princess Peach and Donkey Kong to show up. Now, while so far Illumination’s rendition of the Mushroom Kingdom and other parts of Mario’s world have been praised it’s clear some changes had to be made with DK’s character design in particular standing out, though luckily the movie’s promotional art provides a better look at it.RELATED:20 Most Difficult Mario Games, RankedAll six posters were shared via the movie’s official Twitter account (@supermariomovie), with Mario and Luigi’s backgrounds placing them right where they were seen for the first time back in October, while Bowser is shown in front of his fiery castle. The more interesting images are those of Princess Peach’s innocent stare and Toad in the middle of a fire flower field her highness uses to power up, but even more so is the sight ofthis lankier Donkey Kong whose renewed imageintends to make him less menacing and more of a comic relief character.
With the exception of Charlie Day, who doesn’t have a Twitter account,Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogenand Jack Black are all tagged in their respective posters, though what DK’s voice actually sounds like still remains a mystery. That said, the casting of Rogen for the part, as well as the design changes, seem to paint the Kongs as one of the more comedic aspects of the movie with King Koopa being the sole villain.
Perhaps the biggest departure from typical Mario lore seen so far is that Princess Peach doesn’t appear to be locked in the “damsel in distress” role she’s always had in the video games, especially with her donning her motorcycle costume and Fire Peach being all but guaranteed. Fan reaction to Taylor-Joy and Day’s voices has been surprisingly good, despite both actors sticking pretty close to their real voice tones, with many people online againpointing to non-English voice actors for Marioas a comparison point versus Pratt’s performance.
All things considered, the Mario movie looks amazing at this stage, so it’s no surpriseShigeru Miyamoto has such high hopes for it.
TheSuper Mario Bros. Movieis scheduled to be released on June 18, 2025.
