The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters, and while the reviews aren't glowing, it seems there is a lot of positive buzz about Fox McCloud's role in the film. Nintendo fans are delighted to see Star Fox and Pikmin characters in the latest movie, but is this all leading up to a massive ensemble crossover Super Smash Bros. movie?
Polygon was brave enough to ask the question to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. For those unaware, Miyamoto is the mind behind Nintendo's most iconic characters as the creator of Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin. Now, he serves as the company's Creative Fellow and Representative Director, which essentially means he knows and contributes to the company's creative direction. All this to say, he pretty much cut off the interviewer at the knees when they brought up Super Smash Bros., noting he doesn't plan to have a mass gathering of Nintendo characters:
Right off the bat, I’ll say that unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don't think you'll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining. As you know, my rule is that Pikmin can appear in any [Nintendo] series.
Pikmin, who have appeared in Nintendo games outside of their mainline series, do get a pass. Super Smash Bros. is one of the few times multiple Nintendo characters from different franchises are allowed to appear under one game, and according to Miyamoto, this isn't something the company is interested in doing with its movies.
Article continues belowGiven that mindset, it may seem like a wonder that Illumination convinced Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo to sign off on Star Fox (voiced by Glen Powell) playing a major role in the film.
As we're working on this movie, I re-realized how varied and how multi-talented the Mario cast is. When we had kind of ideas from Illumination about, 'What about this character? What about that character?' I was like, 'Oh yeah, that's right. We had this. Oh yeah, that's right. We had that character.' So it really kind of reaffirmed the varied nature of characters in the Mario world. We have plenty of characters to create a movie, and yet we wanted to add a little bit of spice, a little bit of secret cameos here and there.
On one hand, I get it, and I guess it makes sense for Nintendo to offer up character crossovers sparingly. On the other, I would really want to see a Super Smash Bros. movie, though, admittedly, have no idea how you make that premise into a feature-length film. It would just be the appeal of seeing a lot of iconic video game characters on screen together, and that's about it.
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All this to say, it's always possible that Nintendo execs can change their minds. As GamesRadar pointed out, Shigeru Miyamoto was famously against the idea of a Legend of Zelda movie happening, even if Steven Spielberg offered to direct. With that movie previously confirmed to be on the way, so who's to say a Super Smash Bros. movie is entirely off the table in the coming years?
Then again, as a Nintendo fan, it would strike me odd that Nintendo would want to put a movie in which all its characters are fighting against each other on the big screen. I think it's much more feasible that we'd see a take on Mario Party, or maybe even a Mario Kart movie, before we'd see Super Smash Bros. happen.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters right now, and it's definitely worth a watch if you're a fan. I'm just waiting to see what the box office returns are on this one, and how it may influence the future of Nintendo's ideas for future movies.
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