One of the biggest game tributes in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie offers what could be a seen as a ray of hope for a group of characters currently missing from the films. Over the course of movies, Nintendo and Illumination have brought a slew of Super Mario characters to life on the big screen - and yet, quite a few noteworthy names have thus far been left out.
Granted, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie went along way toward building the movie franchise’s library of Nintendo characters. It added into the mix Yoshi, Rosalina, and Bowser Jr, all of which are major figures in Super Mario lore. And in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s post-credits scene, it introduced Princess Daisy, another character whose arrival was highly anticipated.
As for who might be next, a sequel to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie would have some interesting options, such as Wario and Waluigi, who are two of the most recognizable Mario characters without an appearance in either movie. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if someone like Toadette were to appear.
There’s also speculation regarding the Koopalings, who have been appearing as mini-bosses in Super Mario games dating all the way back to the late 1980s. Just as it is with Wario, Waluigi, and Toadette, there’s no concrete evidence they’ll be in a third Super Mario movie, but if what happened with Wart is any indication, the Koopalings certainly have good chances.
With The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the story skipped past decades of franchise history, as Super Mario Galaxy didn’t release until 2007. However, the movie did find plenty of room for references and moments from earlier games, including a massive tribute to the entry that was next in the sequence after Mario and Luigi’s very first adventure together.
The first proper Super Mario game, and the main inspiration for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, was 1985’s* Super Mario Bros.* Three years later, it received a sequel in the form of Super Mario Bros. 2, which continued Mario and Luigi’s story by sending the pair - plus Toad and Princess Peach - to the world of Subcon where they battled Wart.
Because it was a follow-up to the first true Super Mario game, it felt fitting that the sequel to the first movie pays homage to Super Mario Bros. 2. The casino sequence was loaded with Easter eggs to the 1988 classic. It featured the game’s final boss, Wart, and three of its mini-bosses (Birdo, Mouser, and Clawgrip).
This creates an interesting blueprint for any future sequels. There’s too many games to give each one its own movie adaptations, but tributes like the one *The Super Mario Bros. 2 *received in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, seem doable, and if the next movie repeats this trick, we could see a similar tribute to the third game, which revolved around Mario’s battles with the Koopalings.
Considering that the Koopalings comprise seven distinct characters, a story based on Super Mario Bros. 3 would most assuredly come with challenges. The game follows Mario and Luigi as they travel to various worlds, each one having been conquered by one of the seven Koopalings, which traditionally act as the chief henchmen of Bowser.
Theoretically, a third Super Mario movie could adopt a similar strategy, but having seven new villains - not to mention the fact that Bowser and Bowser Jr. would likely return - could result in the film being bogged down with too many characters. Because of that, it may make more sense for a sequel to copy its predecessor’s handling of Wart and his minions.
Not unlike what happened in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the third film could devote a small portion of the story to a sequence based on Super Mario Bros. 3, where the main characters cross paths with the seven Koopalings. Combining Ludwig, Morton, Roy, Wendy, Larry, Iggy, and Lemmy into one wild action sequence could amount to one of the franchise’s most fun moments.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ](/db/movie/super-mario-world/)
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Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack
Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto