Chris Pratt is going to voice Mario for Nintendo and Illumination’s Super Mario movie, and each day we sit with this knowledge feels like being actively aware there’s a clone of yourself just somewhere in the world. This movie’s entire voice cast feels like a fever dream, from Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach to Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. (Jack Black and Charlie Day as respectively Bowser and Luigi makes some sense, though.) While the Marvel and Jurassic World actor has done some voice work in the past, his inclusion in this is the biggest headscratcher of them all, mostly because we haven’t actually heard his Italian accent that we’re told won’t be offensive.
As we all await with baited breath for…whatever the heck this voice will be, Pratt himself recently teased (threatened?) that his vocal take on the Nintendo mascot would be one for the ages. Speaking to Variety, Pratt said he’s worked extensively with directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath to make his Mario distinct from voice actor Charles Martinet, who has voiced the character (and his brother Luigi, plus evil clones Wario and Waluigi) since 1992. According to him, he tried out “a few things” — and please, let those be on the Blu-Ray — before settling on his current voice.
“I’m not gonna be wearing a plumber suit running all over,” joked Pratt. “It’s an animated voiceover narrative…and it is updated and unlike anything you’ve heard in the Mario world before.” Bold claims from Pratt, particularly since Martinet’s has come to define the character for three decades now. All of this feels like tempting fate, albeit in more of a grim, “this could be a trainwreck” way, not entirely unlike Morbius. Safe to say that the Super Mario movie’s a massive wild card, and we’ll continue to be tortured with the idea of what this movie could be until we get our first look at it ahead of its April 7, 2023 release.
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