Will Nintendo Movies Become Bigger Than Marvel’s?

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is finally out. But in this day and age companies with a vast library of iconic characters like Nintendo aren’t expected just to release a single movie. The question must be asked, will Nintendo be able to compete with the MCUs and DCUs of the world?

Serious Spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie are below. Do not read past if you haven’t watched the movie.

At the end of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario and his brother Luigi are now living in the Mushroom Kingdom, helping to rebuild it after the events of Bowser’s invasion. While they could just spend the rest of their lives there happily ever after, we know their adventures aren’t over just yet. The post-credit stinger surely sets up a sequel, but more than that the actual events of the movie can splinter off in a myriad of different directions.

With a box office target of over $100 million in its opening week, it’s not hard to see why Nintendo and its partners at Illumination couldn’t keep the extended Nintendo universe growing, especially given how easily spinoffs could be made just from moments from the first Mario Bros. movie.

How Will It Work?

One benefit to whether Nintendo will jump into the cinematic universe fray alongside Marvel and DC is that Nintendo doesn’t necessarily have to be beholden to the same rules as Marvel and DC. These characters based on comic books have decades of backstory and mythologies that need to be properly assessed before being thrown into the Marvel machine. Whether that’s carefully re-tooling the characters for the MCU specifically in a way that doesn’t burn longtime fans, or finding a space for the character at all as the MCU seemingly reaches capacity.

Nintendo characters by contrast come with very little baggage. While they have decades of games to pull from, Nintendo games aren’t known for being heavy on story or lore and instead focus primarily on gameplay. It wouldn’t take a lore bible to find a way to get Pit from Icarus into the next Mario movie, especially if the answer is just, “magic.”

By this logic, Nintendo might be in an even stronger position than Marvel who have to put the MCU up against a rich comic book history, or the failed Universal Dark Universe which had to answer basic questions like “Why would any of these characters interact?” Nintendo can just put their stars together and not have to justify much to anyone other than, “It’s cool.”

While nothing in the movie suggests The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the first block in an inter-connected universe, there are actually plenty of loose threads to suggest Nintendo isn’t just thinking about a straight line of Mario Bros. Movie sequels.

It’s DK, Donkey Kong!

For one, Donkey Kong is actually a major character in the movie and essentially functions as a second protagonist. As prince of the Jungle Kingdom, Donkey Kong’s storyline revolves around knowing he’s a disappointment in his father’s eyes and desire to become a worthy heir to the throne.

His entrance in the movie alone is already one of the best cinematic moments this year (unless Oppenheimer somehow features the Donkey Kong Rap, I don’t want to hear about it.) But can Donkey Kong carry his own movie? Seth Rogen who voices the character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie already says he’s down to return. And while we’ll have to wait for the movie to get in front of more people to see if Donkey Kong will be the crowd favorite he’s being set up to be, the brief sojourn to DK’s Jungle Kingdom is ready-made for a separate adventure, with cameos from Diddy and Dixie Kong already there to help set up a Donkey Kong Country adventure.

While we got a good look at the extended DK family tree in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a spinoff would be a great place to introduce one of Nintendo’s best villains alongside Bowser, King K. Rool.

Luigi’s Mansion

Despite being called the Super Mario Bros. Movie, the film focuses primarily on Mario with the other brother, Luigi relegated to mostly sitting behind bars. But an opening moment with the green brother serves as a delightful teaser for a potential Charlie Day-centric spinoff.

Early on, when Luigi is lost in the Dark Lands, he is seen wandering around a spooky forest before finding shelter in a horrifying mansion. This lone moment, which is genuinely a bit scary, feels like a little sampler for a potential Luigi’s Mansion spinoff. Why is there a deserted mansion at all in the Dark Lands? Finding out the origins of this location could set up a Luigi’s Mansion spinoff quite easily and introduce characters like Professor E. Gadd who might have some backstory with Bowser.

“[At] Nintendo, we have many different characters, and I almost see us as a talent agency with many characters and many talents that we work with and kind of figuring out where they would fit best in what situation.”

Nintendo Is a Talent Agency

It’s not just that fans want to see their favorite Nintendo characters. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto also recognizes Nintendo is a brand with a bevy of famous characters, even going so far as to call Nintendo akin to a “Talent Agency.”

In a recent interview with IGN ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie premiere, Miyamoto says, “[At] Nintendo, we have many different characters, and I almost see us as a talent agency with many characters and many talents that we work with and kind of figuring out where they would fit best in what situation.”

Beyond just Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Princess Peach, Nintendo has several characters in the wings that could headline their own franchises. The most prominent of whom would be Link and Princess Zelda. A rumored Netflix series sent the internet into a frenzy before being debunked as a ruse. But the excitement proves there’s an appetite to go beyond the Mushroom Kingdom.

And if you ask how Nintendo could bring unrelated characters like Mario and Link together, then luckily Nintendo already has a ready-made answer to The Avengers.

The Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart Connection

How do you get all of Nintendo’s greatest characters into a single movie, even if it means breaking the boundaries of Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom? Well, Nintendo has been doing that already thanks to its fighting game series Super Smash Bros. and to a lesser extent Mario Kart, which includes guest characters like Link.

While Miyamoto, who is a creative producer on The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Super Nintendo Land theme park says he doesn’t actually play much of the Smash Bros. series himself, the games have made Nintendo fans comfortable with seeing all the different Nintendo characters (plus some non-Nintendo guests) in the same game without needing to think too hard about why they’re all together in the first place.

Plus, The Super Mario Bros. Movie already made its Mario Kart connections clear by featuring Karts as an important narrative device. Even the way Mario and co. customize their Karts in the movie is directly pulled from the Kart customization menu introduced in Mario Kart 7, making it an even easier team-up concept between Mario and other Nintendo characters.

So will Nintendo be the next MCU? We know for sure that a sequel is at least being thought of based on the post-credit scene in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. But if Nintendo decided to wade into the messy inter-connected universe, they’ll know that they’re uniquely advantaged to take on Marvel and DC thanks to its ‘Talent Agency’ of characters and uncomplicated mythology.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.