When it was revealed that Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt had been tapped to voice Mario in Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the backlash was immediate and vocal. Fans of the hit Nintendo video game franchise simply couldn't imagine the Star-Lord actor playing the beloved plumber, but the trailers have somewhat proved his doubters wrong.
While the title character definitely sounds like Pratt, there's a flair there that means Mario sounds like, well, Mario. Joining him in the movie as Luigi is Charlie Day and, during a recent visit to Universal Studios Hollywood's Super Nintendo World, both actors seemed to poke fun at the trolls.
As you can see in the Instagram post below (via Toonado.com), Pratt adopts a Batman-like voice that he claims is what he'll sound like as Mario. Day's sneak peek, meanwhile, consists of him saying absolutely nothing.
Voices aside, The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks like it has the potential to be an absolute delight. Throw in the admittedly impressive, albeit slightly divisive, A-List voice cast and we're fully on board with this one.
A new trailer is expected to be released early next month, so you'll want to keep checking back here for that the second it drops as we have a feeling it will include some fun reveals...and probably more of Pratt and Day's voices!
From Nintendo and Illumination comes a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film also stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Jack Black as Bowser, as Toad, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to be released in theaters on April 7, 2023.