Ahead of Nintendo’s event on Thursday, a poster for the Super Mario Bros. movie has been released, stuffed with Easter eggs and curious details that regular gamers might miss. Let’s face it, who has time to zoom in on a Twitter post? Well, luckily for you, our job is to do that kind of thing, so you don’t have to. So, 7 things we found in Mario posters that might give us some clues about the upcoming movie’s story:
Pixelated merchandise in an antique shop
Could this serve as a normative clue for the Mario movies in the wider game continuity? I can’t believe I just typed that out with a straight face. But listen to me: on those shelves, you can clearly see Super Mario Bros. 3’s switch block and music box. Does this indicate that the film thinks the classic game has already happened in its timeline?
If so, the movie is not an origin story like the Sonic movie. This could be Old Man Mario, who at some point in his life was similar to Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4: middle-aged, bored, and longing for another goofy adventure. Throw in a subplot about Luigi escaping a South American prison, and the Mario movie might end up being a better Uncharted movie than a real Uncharted movie.
captain toad
That’s the toad in the foreground, right? He chatted with Mario like they were old friends. That’s his treasure hunt gear, more or less, right? Could there be a Lost Treasure or other storyline here where Toad plays the Indiana Jones sidekick, like a short wheel? this is possible. Mario movies can revolve around any number of Hollywood tropes, and the Universal Jumping Adventure romp seems fitting: After all, Super Mario Odyssey is essentially that.
So… middle-aged, Indiana Jones… is… is this really an Uncharted movie? Did Nintendo steal Sony by making an Uncharted movie with mushroom skins?
Mario’s Unpressed Cargo Pants
Look at the wrinkles around Mario’s butt and legs. Obviously, these are straight off the shelf: fine for people like you and me, but in Mushroom Kingdom, this is a very close to royalty. Literally. In the words of the British royal family, Mario’s relationship with Peach makes him potentially the Duke of some shit pit. So one would expect – as a civic duty – that his potty would be kept safe.
Well, they are not. This could herald trouble in heaven: Peaches had had enough, and Mazel found himself kicked to the curb. It would also explain why Captain Toad uses the exact look of an annoying friend when Mario speaks and says silly and cliché things like “Come on, man! There’s a lot of heiresses in the kingdom!” Yes, anyway, you are A sentient mushroom, defeat it now.
Nathan Drake’s bond is getting deeper and deeper here: Although Drake isn’t completely divorced in Uncharted 4, his marriage is on the verge of teetering. He and Elena were estranged and barely communicated. (Elena is also blonde and has been to a castle, probably like Princess Peach).
It’s a damn Uncharted movie.
Yoshi’s Egg
Check out that antique store. It’s fine now, it’s close. Peek next to the more anticipated merchandise and you’ll see that iconic egg; white with a smattering of colored flecks. It’s blue, just behind the blue shopkeeper Toad. It’s undeniably the egg of longtime Mario mainstay Yoshi, right? So we can expect to see the little mount of gum tongue at some point in the movie, we look forward to it. It stands to reason; Nathan Drake has a Jeep and Mario has a Yoshi. There’s almost certainly a chase scene for Mario during these mushroom-centric 90 minutes. Probably against Bowser. Maybe it happened over the Kalimari desert in Mario Kart 64, with a train’s route and Yoshi (Mario’s car) had to run and keep up, you get the idea.
Let’s just hope that Mario’s movie interpretation doesn’t use Yoshis as indiscriminately as we all do to bridge the insurmountable gap, or this family-friendly movie will cause more unnecessary deaths than the floodgates at the KFC hatchery .
All the toads are smiling…except one
Five toads are clearly visible in the foreground of this poster. Two of them, Captain Toad and the antique shop owner, looked very happy to exist in the warm glow in front of Mario. The other two looked happy, although Mario didn’t seem to think about their day. But one of them – a yellow one – holding what appears to be a stack of takeout pizzas or Toblerones (so they either show up from Domino’s or the airport) doesn’t look happy at all when seeing Mario.
Which begs the question: what did Mario do to the yellow toad?
The obvious similarity to Uncharted is that in these games, yellow is often used to denote objects that Nathan Drake can climb, grab or swing. This could be a metaphor for a certain level of unease in the Mushroom Kingdom about Mario’s intentions: whether, as he puts it, he’s just a foreign suitor for Peach, or is he intending to use the Mushroom Kingdom’s hospitality and apparent wealth to advance him Own evil agenda? Will he be willing to step on (or climb, grab, or swing) the Toadman to gain power?
platform
Look at the floating islands connected to the mountains in the background: notice that they all have stepped platforms leading to them?
We’re sure to see Mario’s acrobatic abilities play a key role in this cinematic adventure: traversing the noble geography of the Mushroom Kingdom like… well, like Nathan Drake Unfold yourself in the heritage sites of emerging market economies.
Liberalism
Purple Toad on Mario’s right: Look what he’s holding. Here’s a Cheep Cheep fish in a plastic bag, presumably bought from a fishmonger (or pet store, if you want a charity read on this) in the background. Now usually allied with Koopa troops, the Cheep Cheep fish is one of the Mushroom Kingdom’s deadliest aquatic creatures: dangerous even for powerful heroes like Mario, not to mention the humble toad.
This suggests that there is a massively deregulated livestock market in the mushroom kingdom. The danger this poses to the food security of the Kingdom and its individual citizens cannot be overstated: the lack of proper food standards means the entire supply chain is always at risk of contamination by germs or expired food, not to mention attempts to contaminate a spoiled piece of food. Physical risks associated with shredding of Yassi puffer fish fillets. This is not the way to run advanced economies.
Nathan Drake’s connection is inconclusive here, but frankly he gives us a bit of a “don’t step on me” meltdown, so you’re there.
The Super Mario Bros. movie will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X after its theatrical release.
Table of Contents
