Say goodbye to Mushroom Kingdom, as Mario and Luigi gear up for an intergalactic adventure in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and encounter some familiar faces along the way. Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal have released the trailer for the sequel to 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Movie, marking the debut of two new characters from the long-standing franchise: Rosalina and Bowser Jr.
Announced during a Nintendo Direct livestream, it opens with the plumbing brothers taunting a shrunken-down Bowser, now kept as their prisoner after eating a Mini Mushroom at the end of the first film. The latter then paints a romantic portrait of himself and Princess Peach, only to be shot down by Mario, who, alongside Peach, Luigi, and Toad, travels to different planets in a nod to the Super Mario Galaxy video game.
Bowser’s son, Bowser Jr., later confronts the group with a magical paintbrush that grants him a metallic coating and doubles as a flail, while Rosalina fends off a giant robot with her magic wand. Following the end of the trailer, Illumination CEO Meledandri lifted the curtain on the voice actors behind the new additions – Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) and Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer), respectively.
The pair joins the returning cast of Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day (Luigi), Anya Taylor-Joy (Peach), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), and Jack Black (Bowser), with fan-favourite dinosaur character Yoshi also expected to appear in Super Mario Galaxy Movie, though likely without speaking lines.
Plot details for the film are sparse, but the 2007 Nintendo Wii hit saw Mario on a mission to collect Power Stars across the galaxy to fuel his ship and make his way to the centre of the universe, where Peach is held captive by Bowser. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic will return to direct, alongside Matthew Fogel as scriptwriter.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie heads off to space on 3 April 2026.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
