The first Super Mario Bros. Movie stayed largely in its own universe. However, with the release of its sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, a few reveals have fans looking ahead at what the future might hold. Could the addition of characters like Fox McCloud tease a much larger team-up film in the future, sort of like the Super Smash Bros. games?
Not so fast, says Nintendo legend, Super Mario Bros. creator and Super Mario Galaxy executive producer Shigeru Miyamoto. “Right off the bat, I’ll say that unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don’t think you’ll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining,” Miyamoto said in an interview with Polygon.
His co-executive producer, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri, expanded on that. “When you use the term universe, it conjures up for me this idea that there’s a group of really smart people in a room with charts up on a wall and they’re planning the next 10 years of how all the characters might be weaving in and out of movies,” he said. “Our process is actually very different from that. It’s much more geared toward conversations about what would be fun within a certain scene in the movie. So these ideas come up based on, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be fun if the Pikmin appeared here? Wouldn’t that be fun?’ And then that conversation, if we agree that it’s a fun idea, then we look to Miyamoto-san to just make his own judgment about whether or not it feels right to him, but it’s much more incidental than strategic.”
That would, it seems, fly in the face of the fact that Fox McCloud from Star Fox is in the movie. But, in another interview, Miyamoto explained how that specific character, being an ace pilot, fit into this specific idea for a movie, which sees the characters flying across the galaxy.
“When I got the proposal from Chris about including Star Fox, in general, from Nintendo’s perspective, we tend to avoid mixing IPs,” Miyamoto told Forbes. “With that said, though, as the creator of Star Fox and this movie taking place in space, I felt that I wanted to see that. I wanted to see what it would be like, but I also felt that there may be significant resistance internally about that idea, so after I got this proposal, I contacted the necessary parties involved and started my lobbying activity here at Nintendo. I was surprised to find that a lot of people saw a lot of potential with it and were really excited to see what would come out of this.”
As for Kirby, Samus, Link, Pikachu, Sonic, Pac-Man, and the rest? Well, probably not yet. If ever.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie does have one extra hint at the future, though, but you’ll have to see the movie to find out, or click here. But beware of spoilers.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
