If there is still any doubt, The Super Mario Bros. Movie proves that the infamous video game movie curse has finally been broken. The movie continues to receive praise from fans and currently holds the title of biggest video game movie in history. While packed with fan service, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is for everyone, regardless of whether or not the person watching is a Mario aficionado. The world is already talking about sequels and with the first one having been such a massive success, we will probably be revisiting the Mushroom Kingdom in the coming years.
Upcoming sequels have the opportunity to introduce more characters from the Mario franchise. Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser are now established, but there are more than 40 years of games to pull new characters from. Of course, Nintendo and Illumination are even in a position where they could debut new characters. As we look to the future, here are our picks for 9 characters we would like to see in future movies.
9 Princess Daisy
Daisy is the princess of Sarasaland, a country that appears in Super Mario Land (1989) and the WarioWare series. She is often referred to as a tomboy, with one of her memorable quotes from Fortune Street being, "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I won't fight dirty!" Daisy is the love interest of Luigi and the best friend of Princess Peach.
8 Rosalina
Making her debut in 2007's Super Mario Galaxy, Rosalina is the adoptive mother of the Lumas, a species of star-like creatures that live in the Comet Observatory. Progressing through Super Mario Galaxy unlocks "Rosalina's Story," revealing she lost her own mother when she was young. Rosalina appears in many modern Mario games including the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario Kart series.
7 Wario
Wario serves as an arch-rival to Mario and is consistently portrayed as being greedy and selfish. He is physically stronger than Mario and shows a fondness for the colors yellow and purple. Believing that the meaning of life is to find and hoard treasure, Wario does his best to keep his treasure away from those that could possibly steal it, which basically means everyone. Bowser voice actor Jack Black is currently pitching Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as the voice of Wario in a sequel.
6 Waluigi
Similar to how Wario is the "bad" version of Mario, Waluigi can be considered the "bad" version of Luigi. Although many Nintendo fans believe him to be Wario's brother, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games says otherwise, stating that the two characters are not related. If one wants to gain a better understanding of Waluigi, they should think of him as a video game version of Robbie Rotten from Lazy Town.
5 Yoshi
The Super Mario Bros. Movie includes an obvious Yoshi tease in its post-credits scene, focusing on a cracking green egg. Yoshi in the Super Mario Bros. games is a close companion of Mario, with the appearance of a dinosaur, friendliness of a dog, and ride-ability of a horse. He is able to "flutter jump," toss giant eggs, and eat enemies and power-ups with his super long tongue.
4 Birdo
Birdo is a pink dinosaur that appears in games such as Mario Party Superstars and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. She first appears in Super Mario Bros. 2 as an enemy boss, but the games following Super Mario Bros. 2 change course and portray her as a friend of Mario. Birdo is the default partner of Yoshi in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and is romantically involved with Yoshi.
3 Miis
Miis are the customizable avatars that were first introduced on the Nintendo Wii and saw continued use on the 3DS, Wii U, and the Switch. They are obviously not official characters with detailed backstories, but they have appeared as playable characters in games such as Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Miis could appear in a Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel as a fun Easter egg or as supporting characters.
2 Lakitu
Lakitus are the Koopas that hover on the clouds and film Mario's adventures in Super Mario 64. In the Mario games, a Lakitu also serves as the referee of Mario's tennis and baseball games as well as his races. Despite The Super Mario Bros. Movie featuring a kart race, the famous Lakitu referee is noticeably absent. Additionally, the movie misses the opportunity to call back to Super Mario 64 by revealing a Lakitu had been filming the movie the whole time.
1 Monty Moles
Emerging from underground, Monty Moles are enemies that Mario constantly comes into contact with. They are not very nice, but there is likely bad blood between the Monty Moles and Mario because of the latter's participation in the Whack-a-Mole games. Monty Moles have such a large presence in the games that it wouldn't be right for them not to eventually appear in a Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel.