We finally have our first look at The Super Mario Bros. Movie and unsurprisingly the best part is the King of all Koopas himself, Bowser, as voiced by Jack Black. Nintendo premiered the movie’s first trailer during New York Comic-Con. The movie also stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, along with many more recognizable voices and names. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set for release on April 7, 2023.
It’s no shock that Bowser is the best part of our first look at the movie, which is a co-production between Nintendo and Illumination (the studio behind Minions), considering he’s certainly the main character of the trailer. It starts with his awesome flying lava-castle ominously floating toward a kingdom of ice before he makes fun of a few silly penguins and burns their empire to the ground. It’s fittingly both menacing and silly, but the real cherry on top is Jack Black’s voice work.
Black seems to be doing something that sounds like if Macho Man Randy Savage were asked to provide the voice of Smaug from the second Hobbit movie. He’s loud and full of bravado and cockiness, all without losing the edge that makes everything sound like a joke. Even better, Illumination seems to have managed to tap into some of Black’s signature facial expressions for the character.
Image: Illumination, Nintendo/Universal Pictures
Speaking of Jack Black’s special talents, the actor has also confirmed that he’ll be bringing a bit of his rock experience to Bowser in what could be a musical number.
Yet another reason we shouldn’t be shocked that Bowser is the standout of the first trailer is that Mario, frankly, is a little boring. I mean on the one hand he is voiced by Chris Pratt who barely appears to be doing a voice or accent at all, but then again, what does Pratt really have to work with. Mario is just a guy. He doesn’t have a giant spiky shell or breathe fire. He doesn’t even fight ghosts like his brother Luigi — who is voiced by Charlie Day in this movie and also shows up for a few fantastic seconds in this trailer.
Even if Bowser is the only true winner of The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s first trailer, there will surely be plenty of other looks at the movie before it arrives in theaters next year.