The Super Mario movie could bring back a long-forgotten character

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Mario and Luigi may encounter someone from their past in the upcoming film

Super Mario 3D All-Stars
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Super Mario movie, which is currently in development with Minions studio Illumination, will potentially bring back a classic Nintendo character. 

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco recently revealed that he has been cast in the upcoming Nintendo movie whilst guesting on the Bertcast podcast. “I’m in the movie Super Mario Bros., an animated movie, I’m playing Spike, their boss” the comedian stated. 

As pointed out by @Eponge2L on Twitter, there’s a possibility that Maniscalco could be referring to Foreman Spike, a character who appeared in the Super Mario series back in 1985. It could also be possible however that the movie Spike could be based on another Super Mario enemy called Spike or a completely new character with the same name.

However, the Foreman Spike claim does have a lot going for it. First of all, Maniscalco stated that he was playing “[Mario & Luigi’s] boss." If you go back to the classic Super Mario game Wrecking Crew, Spike is the foreman of the construction site that the pair work at. The character has also made appearances in several other Super Mario games over the years, most recently in WarioWare Gold.

According to the same Twitter user, this character’s inclusion also opens up theories about everyone’s favorite bongo-loving ape Donkey Kong also appearing in the film. This is due to the construction site where Mario, Luigi, and Spike work also being an obvious place to introduce Donkey Kong. However, Nintendo and Illumination have kept very tight-lipped about the movie so far, so this is all speculation at the moment. 

If the Super Mario movie is news to you, here’s what you need to know: the project is currently being developed by Illumination and is set to be released in 2022. It's being produced by Chris Meledandri with support from Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto, who is on board as a consultant. Nintendo has also stated that this isn’t its only plan to side-step into the world of feature film, so expect to see more Nintendo IP hit the big screen in the coming years. 

Want to find out about more video game adaptations? Take a look at our upcoming video game movies list. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.