After a brief tease earlier this year, Nintendo and Illumination have finally released the first trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. We see a fair bit of returning characters, but we also get our first look at Bowser Jr. and Rosalina, who are debuting in the sequel.
After the events of the first movie, Bowser is still tiny and a prisoner of Mario and company, and his son Bowser Jr. is taking on the major villain role to save his father from the Mushroom Kingdom’s clutches. Rosalina is voiced by Captain Marvel star Brie Larson, and Bowser Jr. will be played by Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie. During the Direct, we heard both actors’ performances as Rosalina read bedtime stories, seemingly about Mario and Peach, to several Luma, and Bowser Jr. gave a villain monologue.
Surprisingly, we didn’t hear anything today about Yoshi, who was teased in the first Mario movie’s post-credits scene. The character’s design was leaked earlier this week by a cookie dough box, and while it wasn’t anything surprising, it did make me think Yoshi might be making his grand debut during today’s Direct showcase. A lot of Mario fans are wondering if Yoshi will have a full speaking role like certain other characters in the films who don’t usually speak in the video games. Mario himself usually doesn’t utter more than a series of “wahoo!”s and the occasional “Let’s-a go!” But Chris Pratt’s voice is forming full sentences in the films, unfortunately, so it’s not out of the question that Yoshi might speak in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
The sequel will premiere in theaters on April 3. Pratt is one of several returning actors reprising their roles from the original film. Jack Black made an appearance in the Direct presentation introducing Safdie as Bowser Jr., and his voice can still be heard as Bowser in the trailer, though pitched up because the pathetic little simp has been shrunken down by a Mini Mushroom.
