The voice cast for Super Mario Bros. confirms that the movie will actually encompass not one, but two Nintendo franchises, with the other being Donkey Kong. Nintendo’s announcement has revealed that Seth Rogen and Fred Armisen will play Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong respectively. The two characters are part of a Super Mario Bros. cast that also includes Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Toad, Princess Peach, Kamek, and Spike.
Expected for a theatrical release at the end of 2022, Super Mario Bros. is being developed by both Illumination and Nintendo. It’ll mark the first time the two Italian plumbers and the gang have appeared on the big screen since the infamous live-action adaptation in 1993. Being an animated production, 2022’s Super Mario Bros. should stand a better chance at accurately portraying the many characters and creatures that live in the Mushroom Kingdom, but there will be a few additional faces that some fans may not have expected.
One of the most interesting reveals made about the movie is the inclusion of Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong, as their roles make it clear that the film will be incorporating a separate world in Nintendo’s video games. Of course, DK and Mario were originally tied together, since they were pitted against each other in their first game, 1981’s Donkey Kong. However, it’s important to keep in mind that since then, Nintendo split Donkey Kong off from Mario, reimagined the character, and gave him his own video franchise, complete with a brand-new cast of supporting characters, including his bad-tempered grandfather, Cranky Kong. Alongside his family of characters, Donkey Kong has been the recipient of many adventures across a breadth of consoles and generations.
Through a retcon, the Donkey Kong Country games from the 1990s established that the “Donkey Kong” that fought Mario in the 1981 classic was in fact a young Cranky Kong, meaning that apart from crossovers like Mario Party and Mario Kart, the titular protagonist of the Donkey Kong games isn’t connected to Mario’s world or his story. Whereas Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, and all the rest dwell in the Mushroom Kingdom, DK and his friends live on Donkey Kong Island, which is a completely different place populated by creatures unique to what Mario is familiar with. The main threats that DK has to contend with there are the lizard-like Kremlings, who are led by the villainous King K. Rool.
For the time being, it’s hard to say how Super Mario Bros. plans to connect Mario and DK’s worlds. Though this would be a major deviation from the games, it could take Donkey Kong and his family members out of the jungle and into the Mushroom Kingdom to meet Mario, or it could take the time to explore both worlds properly. If so, it’s possible that the movie could introduce audiences to other members of the DK Crew and the Kong family, such as his loyal sidekick and nephew, Diddy Kong. There’s also Diddy’s girlfriend, Dixie Kong, and the surfboard-riding Funky Kong. If Donkey Kong Island is visited in Super Mario Bros., all of these characters have the potential to make cameo appearances. As for DK himself, there may even be room for an exciting team-up with Mario and Luigi against Bowser and his minions.