After almost 30 years of bringing life to Nintendo's most iconic plumber, Nintendo announced that Charles Martinet would be stepping down as the voice of Mario and would not be voicing the character in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
With Martinet having taken on a Mario 'ambassador' role, another voice actor has stepped into the mascot's dungarees. But who is the new voice of Mario and what other roles have they played before? In this guide, we will tell you everything that you need to know about Martinet's replacement as Mario's in-game voice.
Let's-a go!
Who Is The New Voice Of Mario?
As revealed in October 2023, Kevin Afghani is the voice of Mario and Luigi as of 2023, replacing Charles Martinet.
The LA-based voice actor's first appearance in these roles can be found in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and it's fair to assume (though not definite) that he will voice those characters in new Mario games for the foreseeable future.
On his website, Afghani expresses a passion for animation and video games in particular:
I decided to become a voice actor for a single reason; my absolute love for animation and video games. They are some of the most genuinely exciting forms of art that I have ever seen. Characters that exist only within the context of their media allow this art to transform into a beautifully immersive experience like no other. Whether that experience is fun, bubbly, dark, or moving, this art form is truly amazing and I absolutely had to become a part of it.
What Voices Did Kevin Afghani Do Before Mario?
Afghani has performed a handful of different voice roles before taking on the Mario mantle, though perhaps the biggest video game role of these is the event-specific NPC, Arnold, in Genshin Impact.
You can find a full list of Afghani's voice credits below.
- Spike, Anime Penguin: Red Snow (2020)
- Arnold (English Version), Genshin Impact (2020)
- Raditz, Dragon Ball R&R (2018-2021)
- Detective / General / Grunt, Secret History of Cuphead (2022)
- Cuphead / Detective / General / Grunt / Boyfriend / Spike, Mashed (2020-2022)
- Detective / General / Grunt, Among Us & Cuphead (Secret History Volume 4) (2023)
- Mario / Luigi, Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)
Who Did Mario's Original Voice? - Every Mario Voice Actor (English)
Various actors have taken on the role of Mario over the years. Here's a full rundown:
Peter Cullen
Actor Peter Cullen (perhaps best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in the original Transformers cartoon and later films) voiced Mario in a series of Donkey Kong short cartoons in the American TV series Saturday Supercade.
The show ran for two seasons between 1983 and 1984, with the 19 Donkey Kong segments generally focusing on Mario and Pauline chasing down a DK on the run and stopping his crimes in the process.
Charles Martinet
The most iconic voice to have taken on the role of Mario to date, Charles Martinet's first mainline Mario game was 1996's Super Mario 64 and he continued to voice each of the iconic plumber's appearances until 2023's Super Mario Wonder where he was replaced by Kevin Afghani.
While not taking on the titular role in 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Martinet did lend his talents to the voice cast, playing both Mario and Luigi's father and making a comedy cameo as the Wahoo-ing customer, Giuseppe.
Lou Albino
Professional wrestler-turned-actor, Lou Albino, took on the role of Nintendo's iconic plumber in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The show ran for a single series in 1989 and consisted of a mixture of live-action and animated segments, with Albino playing the role of Mario in both.
Walker Boone
Following the Super Show, another attempt was made to bring a Mario TV series to the US, with the catchily-titled The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 seeing Walker Boone voicing the lead. This one was fully animated and ran for a single season in 1990 before being replaced by a series called Super Mario World in 1991, for which Boone also provided the lead vocals.
Both series were, unsurprisingly, loosely based on the video games of the same titles, with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Toadstool going on adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.
Bob Hoskins
The first live-action Mario movie saw Bob Hoskins take the lead role. The 1993 film, simply titled Super Mario Bros., was a more realistic take on Nintendo's fantasy land, with the brothers living and working in real-world Brooklyn before being pulled through an interdimensional portal into Dinohattan.
The film was critically panned on release and Hoskins has since said that he didn't know the movie was based on the iconic game franchise at the time.
Chris Pratt
30 years after the release of the first Mario movie, Chris Pratt stepped into the role of Mario for Illumination's animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.
Pratt's casting quickly became a hot topic of conversation following its announcement in 2021, with many voicing concern that the Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World actor would not be able to live up to the precedent set by Martinet.
The movie was released to a mixed critical reception, though it rapidly grew to become one of 2023's highest-grossing pictures and the most successful game-to-film adaptation of all time. Pratt was quick to mention the potential of a sequel, though the WGA Strike in America has meant that no further details of this have been shared at the time of writing.
Kevin Afghani
The second-ever actor to take on the role of Mario in a video game, Kevin Afghani was announced to be taking over from Charles Martinet for 2023's Super Mario Wonder. More information about the actor can be found above, in this very guide!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Kevin Afghani Voice Mario Again?
Almost certainly. We would be very surprised if Mario Wonder is a one-and-done deal for Afghani. Nothing is confirmed at the time of writing, but it's probably safe to assume that Nintendo has Afghani on a long-term contract for the role.
Afghani's Twitter announcement specified that he had been cast for Super Mario Bros. Wonder (obviously), and didn't mention any future roles — i.e. he didn't say 'I have been cast as the new voice of Mario'. But, again, we would be surprised if he didn't return.
The actor's IMDb page currently lists him as appearing in the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG, though Nintendo is yet to confirm this.
Does Kevin Afghani Voice Wario And Waluigi?
Yes, Kevin Afghani does voice Wario as of WarioWare: Move It! The actor announced his involvement in the party game on Twitter shortly after its release.
As for Waluigi, only time will tell — though we're pretty confident that Afghani, like Martinet, will be voicing the full quartet.
Is Kevin Afghani In Luigi's Mansion 2 HD?
This one we do know: no, Afghani does not voice Luigi in the Switch's upcoming Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.
Nintendo confirmed this in the following statement:
For the upcoming HD re-release of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, as it is a re-release, Charles’s voice will appear in the game.
Is Charles Martinet In Super Mario Bros. Wonder?
Nope. You can find the voice announcements from all of the English cast here.
How Long Did Charles Martinet Voice Mario For?
In Shigeru Miyamoto's message of thanks to Martinet, he stated that the actor has voiced Mario ever since 1996's Super Mario 64, putting Martinet's career as Mario at a respectable 27 years before stepping into the role of ambassador in 2023.
Miyamoto-san is of course correct, however, his statement only applies to mainline Mario games and Martinet can, in fact, be found as the voice of Mario before Super Mario 64. You can hear Martinet's pipes first in 1994's CD version of Mario Teaches Typing and then again a year later in 1995's Mario's Game Gallery — actually putting the duration of his career as the voice of Mario at 29 years.
Well, there is everything that you need to know about Kevin Afghani — the new voice of Mario. We will be keeping this guide updated as we learn more about Afghani's future role at Nintendo and where we can expect to hear him next.
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