We're fast approaching the launch of The Super Mario Bros. Movie on April 7th, 2023 (yes, it'll be here before you know it!) and we've already seen a boatload of characters from the first two trailers, including the likes of Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Funky Kong, and more.
It seems Nintendo is still keeping a few things under wraps, however, as an unannounced character has been spotted via a recent McDonald's promotion. The news comes via Twitter user @Kikaim, who recently posted an image showing eight toys that will reportedly come with Happy Meal toys in Japan starting this month. Seven of the eight are pretty self explanatory and include Luigi, Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Bowser, and two versions of Mario.
As for the eighth..? Well, read on if you're not bothered about potential spoilers!
The eighth toy is a Luma, one of the star-like creatures that first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii and most recently featured in Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. The adoptive children of Rosalina, the Luma have a remarkable ability to transform into a variety of objects, including entire galaxies. Their inclusion in the movie potentially also indicates an appearance from Rosalina herself. Given the Luma's blue colour, however, it appears that this isn't the more specific Baby Luma, though we reckon that particular character will also make an appearance.
Of course, it all kind of makes sense when you think about it. After all, consider Peach's quote in the latest trailer: "There's a huge universe out there with a lot of galaxies. They're all counting on us. No pressure!" So yeah, seems fairly conclusive to us; not to mention the fact that Mario is quite literally chasing Luigi through some sort of inter-dimensional portal.
At this point, it's perhaps worth looking into which characters won't appear in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. If we disregard the obvious notion of branching out into other Nintendo IP, it seems the whole Mario gang is here to make an appearance. Considering the rather restrained approach taken by Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog movie, Nintendo and Illumination are really going all out for Mario's animated debut.