Super Mario Bros. movie reportedly casts Sebastian Maniscalco
And he's already recording voice work.
A Super Mario Bros. film is still in the pipeline.
When Nintendo officially announced it was making a Super Mario Bros. film with the studio behind Despicable Me and Minions, there were a lot of questions. Several years and a Nintendo-focused Universal theme park expansion later, we still don't know much. The company only said that the film would be co-produced by Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Illumination's Chris Meledandri.
Now, we know one thing: comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is reportedly recording voice work for the film. But he's not playing Mario or Luigi.
"I'm playing Spike," Maniscalco said in an interview on Bert Kreischer's Bertcast, "their boss." If you don't recognize the character, you aren't alone. While there is a character named Foreman Spike in the world of Super Mario Bros., it's kind of a deep cut -- he only appears in 1985's Wrecking Crew for the NES, the Japan only Wrecking Crew '98, and as a nostalgic reference in a handful of later games.
His role in the upcoming animated film is unclear, but it at least tells us that Mario and Luigi have a boss, and possibly work in construction at some point in the film. They wear those overalls for a reason, after all.
As for the rest of the film's cast? We simply don't know. The reveal wasn't part of a press junket, but a side comment Maniscalco made while talking about what was on his agenda that week -- a list that included taking care of his son, getting a COVID test for an upcoming trip and doing work on the upcoming animated movie.
Fans are still waiting to find out if the Super Mario Bros. movie's titular character will be voiced by Charles Martinet, who provides Mario's voice for the video games, or someone entirely new.
The Super Mario Bros. animated film is set to debut sometime in 2022.