10 Things We Learned From Mario Galaxy Movie’s Star-Studded Press Tour

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is out this week, and Illumination’s animated sequel has a stacked cast of Hollywood stars of…varying voice acting quality, enthusiasm, and Mario knowledge. The press tour those folks have been on has given us a few nuggets of meaningful information, along with plenty of weird clips and memeable moments. Here are a few highlights as we head into the movie’s premiere on Wednesday.

The cast makes up its own lyrics for the Mario theme song

JakeTakes asked the cast of Super Mario Galaxy to make up lyrics for the iconic Mario theme song. Jack Black and Donald Glover are musicians so they’ll probably come up with something halfway decent, right?

I asked the cast of THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE to come up with lyrics for the iconic Mario Theme.

They did not disappoint. pic.twitter.com/oTIqQIw6wL

— Jake Hamilton (@JakesTakes) March 25, 2026

Who does the cast want to fight in a Smash Bros. movie?

Also in the JakeTakes interview, the crew is asked who they would fight in a hypothetical Super Smash Bros. movie. With the announcement that Star Fox’s own Fox McCloud is showing up in Galaxy, it’s entirely possible that Nintendo and Illumination are hoping for a big crossover down the line. Some of the answers make sense, but then Chris Pratt says he’d “be super eager to see Metroid and defeat Mother Brain” in a way that sounds like it was telephoned into his earpiece by his agent.

The cast of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on which video game characters they'd like to fight in a Super Smash movie:

Donald Glover: "The dog from Duck Hunt."

Jack Black: "Link, I'll kick you in the clink."

Anya Taylor-Joy: "I don't want to kick this person's ass, but I want to… pic.twitter.com/4iy3EjzpoU

— Eric Jaffe (@ericljaffe) March 28, 2026

Donald Glover “campaigned” to play Yoshi

One of the more surprising voice cast announcements in the lead-up to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was the reveal that Donald Glover, Childish Gambino himself, is playing Yoshi. From the sound of it, Glover was making moves to play the green dino before he auditioned. In an interview with Screen Rant, Glover revealed he got the job by calling Pratt.

I literally hit up Chris, and I was like, “I know y’all got to use Yoshi.” But they told me, “He’s just going to say, probably, ‘Yoshi.’ We’re going to keep it very traditional.” I was like, “I can be traditional.”

The lesson, as Glover lays out, is “always ask.”

Jack Black wants to be in a Yakuza movie

Speaking of shooting your shot, Black mentioned in a ScreenRant interview that one video game adaptation he’d love to star in is one based on RGG Studio’s crime drama series Yakuza. 

“So I’m going to throw my hat in that ring,” Black said. “I don’t know if there [are] any parts for me, like a portly American, but talk to me. Sega, give me a jingle.”

Yakuza has had a few live-action adaptations, including several TV versions, the most recent being a three-episode TV series streaming on Amazon Prime.

Glover was happy no one realized Yoshi was him

Yoshi’s voice actor was announced only after the first trailer featuring Mario’s steed, so we had a bit of limbo time in between hearing Glover’s performance and finding out that it was him. In an interview with Nerdtropolis, Glover said one of the biggest honors thus far was that nobody clocked him as the voice of Yoshi, and that fans were temporarily glad to assume that Illumination hadn’t gone with “somebody famous.”

Charlie Day is open to a Luigi’s Mansion movie

Thus far, the Mario movies have been big ensemble affairs, but if Nintendo and Illumination keep raking in money, it’s entirely possible characters could get their own spin-off solo movies. One of the most obvious options would be a Luigi’s Mansion movie starring Charlie Day, who voices the character in the movies. Speaking to ScreenRant, Day says he’s open to the job if it comes along. A movie based on the spooky games would be an easy hit for a Halloween weekend.

“I would be thrilled to do Luigi’s Mansion, just because it’s such a fun game,” Day said. “And not that you would make it like a horror movie for kids, but it could have some more sort of jump scares in it, which would be fun.”

“Everybody loves a jump scare,” Keegan-Michael Key added.

Brie Larson says Hollywood should give video games their due

Rosalina actor Brie Larson knows ball, and has been spreading her games knowledge over the course of the press tour. 

She also took the time to give video games as a medium their due during an interview with Seen on the Screen, and says that Hollywood could stand to embrace them in the same way that games often draw inspiration from film and television.

Brie Larson discusses video games for the Seen on the Screen podcast. "There's so much that video games are taking from cinema, and I think it's really time for us in cinema to recognize what we can take from video games."

Full interview: https://t.co/hn9NSreRcP pic.twitter.com/pSE8ub7wi8

— Eric Jaffe (@ericljaffe) March 25, 2026

Brie Larson referencing the infamous “kicking her boyfriend out” story

Larson’s enthusiasm for Mario has been pretty refreshing in light of how awkward other cast members have been on the press tour. We’ve known about her fandom for years, and she’s been vocal about her love of games, Nintendo games especially, over the years. Back in 2020, Larson famously told a story on her YouTube channel about kicking an ex-boyfriend out after he said she was taking Super Mario Galaxy too seriously. Now that she’s starring in a movie as Rosalina, the whole thing has come full circle.

The Hatchin’ Yoshi still looks pretty cool

The cast of Super Mario Galaxy is probably locked into other promo deals for merchandise and the like, and at least Larson’s continued love of the games shines through during a process that could otherwise be very cynical. Here she is with Day promoting the Hatchin’ Yoshi toy and having a big ol’ time.

Why Pratt changed one of Mario’s catchphrases

Pratt’s performance as Mario has gotten a lot of criticism for sounding low effort, but he also notably has a different take on one of the character’s catchphrases than that established by the longtime voice of Mario in the games, Charles Martinet, whose high-pitched “Mamma mia!” became closely associated with the character after first being heard in Super Mario 64. It’s especially odd considering how much these movies rely on references and game accuracy. In an interview with ScreenRant, Pratt explained why he doesn’t do the same higher-pitched “mamma mia!” with an exaggerated Italian accent that you’ll often hear Mario exclaim in the games. 

“When you hear that original version of the character, it’s in Italian,” he said. “It’s like, [high pitched] ‘Mamma Mia.’ And I’m like, ‘Why does it make sense for a guy who’s from Brooklyn who doesn’t have that accent to use that so much?’

“So it was always tough. They’re like, ‘It’s written as ‘Mamma Mia.’ But I’m like, if I’m expressing some reverence or some sense of, ‘Oh wow, Mamma Mia.’ But that’s not something necessarily a person says unless they’re doing the Italian accent. So it’s always really hard to find how ‘Mamma Mia’ works.”

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie comes to theaters on April 1.