The second trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has arrived, and unlike the brief teaser that we saw in October, this trailer is jam-packed with enough details, references and Easter eggs to sink an airship.
Strap on your helmets and find your nearest Kart or Motorbike, it’s time to break down all of the plot details, and deep-cut references that we found in the new Super Mario Bros. movie Trailer.
Mario Enters the Arena
The trailer starts with a shot of Mario nervously walking out into a crowded arena as the soundtrack references the iconic theme of World 1-1 from the Super Mario Bros. NES Game.
As the crowd chants Mario’s name, we’re reminded of this famous Super Mario Bros 3 commercial, featuring a crowd of Mario Fans so large that they can be seen from space.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Mario and Donkey Kong are standing on a bright-red girder, and in this shot you can see other details, such as a blue ladder, barrels and tires suspended in the air, and more red platforms directly below them. This all emulates the exact level layouts you would see in the original Donkey Kong arcade game where Mario and Donkey Kong made their first appearances.
The Cranky Kong Cameo
Peach and Cranky Kong are here too, making their first appearances in the trailer, and Cranky Kong seems to be presiding over the contest as some sort of ruler or monarch. Perhaps this is a world that is somewhat removed from Princess Peach’s castle and is under Kong rule instead?
More Arena Easter Eggs
There are other references in this arena as well, which point to it being owned by the Kongs, such as the carved bananas in the stands and the audience being filled predominately with more Kongs. Of course, it’s not just DK infrastructure represented in this arena. Mario’s iconic yellow blocks and brick blocks are visible in the background as well. None of these blocks have question marks on them, so Mario probably won’t receive any power-ups in this particular fight.
Super Smash Bros.
This movie looks like it’s going to be filled with elements that include a slew of Mario games, and as Mario and Donkey Kong run toward each other, we are reminded of the start of a Super Smash Bros. match. When Mario jumps into the air to hit Donkey Kong, it even looks like his forward air attack from Smash Bros. too.
Speaking of Donkey Kong, Shigeru Miyamoto pointed out Donkey Kong’s new design during the Movie Trailer Direct, stating that this is Donkey Kong’s first redesign since he was made into a 3D model for Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. He has been changed to “give him a more comical personality and design reminiscent of the original character,” which is yet another reference to the original Donkey Kong arcade game.
Bowser Meets Luigi
In this new scene, we’re reintroduced to Jack Black’s Bowser. We also get a much better look at Luigi, who is suspended in mid-air (presumably by Kamek) as Bowser pushes him for more information about his brother.
Bowser’s Koopa Army
This cinematic flying shot over Bowser’s army shows much more than just the Koopas we saw in the last trailer. We were able to find Red and Green Koopatroopas and Parakoopatroopas, Goombas, Bob-Ombs, Piranha Plants, Shy Guys, potentially Hammer Bros or their larger Sledge Bro Counterparts, and also the Batlike creatures called Swoops. You can also see a couple of Red Spiny’s and the blue-shelled Buzzy Beetles.
Charlie Day’s Luigi Voice
As Bowser pulls on Luigi’s mustache, torturing him for information on Mario, we get to hear Charlie Day’s performance of the much more nervous Mario Brother for the first time.
Mario Bros. Plumbing
While Luigi talks, we see a few brief shots of Mario and Luigi working together as plumbers for their day job, in what seem to be scenes from the beginning of the movie, or potentially flashbacks.
A Mario 64 Cameo
As we move to the interior of Peach’s Castle, you can see that behind Peach is the same stained glass window from Super Mario 64, which can be seen out the front of Peach’s Castle in the game.
The World Map
The Toads here are all gathered around a table showing the different worlds of the Mario universe. We have the Mushroom Kingdom at the bottom, a Sand World on the left edge, a kingdom featuring stone ruins in the center (perhaps this could be the world of the Kongs?), a grassy world on the lower right with mountains reminiscent of Yoshi’s Island for SNES, and… is that two Lava Worlds for Bowser?
You’ll notice that while there have been a lot of shots of an ice world in the trailers, it doesn’t seem to be on the map. Well actually, it is. If you look at this second fiery island on the right, it has icy edges. This shot clearly takes place after Bowser conquers the Ice world of the Penguins, and the map reflects the Ice World’s destruction.
More Mushroom Kingdom Cameos
In this shot of Peach and Toad walking toward the camera, we can see multiple references. To start with, the paintings on the wall seem to be of other Toads and the Castle that they are standing in, but we were still reminded of Super Mario 64’s magic paintings. Princess Peach is also wearing a suit similar to what she wears when riding Motorbikes in Mario Kart.
Toad then whips out a frying pan, which he may use himself, or he may just have at the ready for Peach for when she needs it, as she normally uses a frying pan for one of her smash attacks in Super Smash Bros.
Mario’s Training Course
Outside, it seems Peach has constructed an obstacle course in order to train Mario for the difficulties that lie in store for them. This course is chock full of references to traditional, 2D Mario levels. It’s mostly constructed out of Yellow Blocks, Brick Blocks and Pipes, but we also see Bullet Bill Cannons, Mechanical Piranha Plants, Spike Traps, Falling Platforms and even the iconic flagpole marking the end of the course.
We also get a close look at these rotating circles, which are stand-ins for the normal rotating fire hazards from most 2D Mario games, as well as a very close look at a Bullet Bill when Mario gets stuck to it.
The Cheep Cheeps
We saw Cheep Cheeps in the original trailer, but here we’re getting a way better look at them. One even tries to eat Mario’s face. This scene also appears to be a direct nod to the many times Mario has run across a bridge in the original 2D games while avoiding the jumping Cheep Cheeps.
The Tanooki Suit
Here we get some brief footage of Mario using the Tanooki Suit to gain the ability to fly. It seems like he’s racing this fireball that’s headed towards Peach’s Castle, and as he gets closer to the ground, you can see a Banzai Bill in the distance chasing after him as well.
The Fire Flower
Here is another classic Power-up in this field of Fire Flowers. We see Peach demonstrate how to use their power, as her clothes change color and she gains the ability to wield fireballs, just like Mario can in most of the games.
A Stampede of Yoshis
This looks like an entirely wild region, which is full of stampeding Yoshis, and there are so many different colors! We can even see a single green Yoshi in the pack as well. Are these Yoshi all running towards something? Or are they running away from Bowser’s Castle?
Super Mario Galaxy?
At one point, Peach says “There’s a huge universe out there, with a lot of galaxies.”. While this is little more than a name drop, this does seem to be a not-so-subtle reference to Super Mario Galaxy, where Rosalina introduced Mario to the many different galaxies in the universe. Maybe she’ll make an appearance in this movie, too?
Immediately afterward, we see Mario and Luigi tumbling through this colorful nebula. As Luigi is wearing the same bag of tools that we saw during the plumber scenes, it’s pretty safe to assume that the pair accidentally find a warp pipe while on the job, and this whole area is what the inside of warp pipes looks like (You can even see these streams of light coming in and out of other Warp Pipes in the distance). This is likely where Mario and Luigi get separated as they travel from their world to the Mushroom Kingdom, seeing as we know Mario arrives there alone, as per the first teaser trailer.
Super Mario Kart
You saw that right, this is Mario in his Kart! While there are many spin-off Mario games, including Super Smash Bros and the various Mario sports titles, none of them are quite as popular as Mario Kart, so it makes sense that we’re going to see it in this movie.
When Mario lands his Kart, it’s on the iconic Rainbow Road, which is a track that has been included in every Mario Kart title. This particular road is wide and straight, and while the Rainbow Road courses in-game are known for being particularly challenging to drive on and are the peak of Mario Kart difficulty, it’s still nice to see it included.
More Kong Cameos
In this final shot of the trailer, we get to see other characters riding alongside Mario. We see Peach on her Bike in the same Bike outfit from before, as well as Toad, Donkey Kong and even Cranky Kong on this Tricycle. There are some other exciting characters that we haven’t seen yet as well. Beside Cranky Kong is what seems to be Funky Kong with his reflective sunglasses and bandana. Also, on the far left of the frame, there is an almost child-like Kong in front. Is this perhaps Diddy Kong without his signature cap? Or the more obscure Kiddy Kong, who was introduced in Donkey Kong Country 3?
Even if this isn’t Diddy Kong in the shot, we have reason to believe that characters like Diddy may be in this movie, as a number of official character posters were revealed alongside the trailer’s release. In Donkey Kong’s poster you can see the stands of the arena from the start of the trailer, and way in the back, besides what seems to be Cranky Kong, are the smaller Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong. Hopefully, we’ll get to see them have a role in this movie as well. They also seem to be standing next to Swanky Kong from Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3. How many Kongs are there in this movie?!
Finally, we get 3 iconic Mario actions to end the trailer. Mario hops in his Kart to start a drifting turn, and we hear the classic Mario jumping sound from the NES games. Then, Mario drifts around the road, gaining speed, very similar to how the Mario Kart games, before delivering the signature Mario “Wa-hoo!”
We tried our best to find as many details as we could, but this is such a full trailer that we may have missed something! Let us know in the comments if there were any other easter eggs or references that we missed. We’ll be covering every little bit of news about the Mario movie as we wait for its release in April of 2023, so be sure to keep up with all of the newest details about gaming’s favorite plumber right here on IGN.
For more on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, check out more of Jack Black’s Bowser voice and find out why John Leguizamo isn’t thrilled with the movie’s casting choices.
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