Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy Sets Up Something Much Bigger Than A Smash Bros. Movie

Rumors concerning a possible sequel to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as a Super Smash Bros. event film have swirled in recent weeks, but it has now become clear that Nintendo is planning something even bigger. The new Mario movie has divided audiences and critics, but it already looks assured to be a box office smash.

In the lead-up to the film, Nintendo announced that Fox McCloud would play a role, which intensified discussions about Nintendo’s larger cinematic universe. Including Pikmin and other characters from Nintendo’s larger library of IP, it quickly became clear that Mario Galaxy was not just a Mario movie, but would include larger allusions to all kinds of Nintendo characters.

There are several Nintendo multiversal franchises that have seen crossovers occur in the games. Characters from The Legend of Zelda have appeared in Mario Kart 8, while Rabbids from the Rayman series have created a whole franchise with the Mario + Rabbids series. Even the unexpected pairing of Sonic and Mario has been featured together in an Olympic-themed series of games.

With all of that said, there is no greater potential for crossover stories featuring Nintendo and especially Mario characters than the prospect of a Super Smash Bros. movie. The series of fighting games has grown immensely through the years, pitting characters from franchises like Xenoblade Chronicles against figures as obscure as the trainer from Wii Fit.

A Smash Bros. movie sounds like a big deal, but new details from Nintendo have helped to explain what the Japanese entertainment company is really up to. Their real plans are even more exciting.

Nintendo Is On Their Way To Becoming The Next Disney

Nintendo has been around since the 19th century, when it made playing cards, and is now scaling up its diversity in production to follow in the footsteps of brands like Disney. And while many revere Disney for its filmic offerings, more of the company’s tremendous revenue actually comes from other sources, especially its theme park and cruise line offerings.

Josh D’Amoro became Disney’s new CEO this year after serving as chairman of Disney Experiences, again highlighting the importance of this segment of the brand. Nintendo is following in the footsteps of Disney in recent years, albeit on a smaller scale, with the launch of three Super Nintendo World theme parks at Universal Studios in Florida, California, and Osaka, Japan.

Nintendo is a savvy company that is looking for ways to increase its yearly profits across multiple brands, and this is done by considering the cascading effects of films as cross-promotional products. With this in mind, Nintendo has already set an interesting precedent with its first Mario film, which goes a long way in revealing plans for the future.

How The Studio Set A Precedent With Donkey Kong In The Super Mario Bros. Movie

In large part, Nintendo is using its films as advertising for its other products, and the Donkey Kong character was a testing ground for this. While the Donkey Kong brand has been core to Nintendo since 1981, and had a strong showing with the Rare-produced Donkey Kong Country games in the 1990s, the series has only found intermittent success since.

To change things, Nintendo featured a new version of the character with a stark redesign in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This has long been rumored to lead to a Donkey Kong Country movie, but the promotion that followed has been more significant than that.

Donkey Kong was featured in one of the Nintendo Switch 2’s major releases last year with Donkey Kong Bananza, and Nintendo has added Donkey Kong Country sections to their theme parks. An HD remaster of Donkey Kong Country Returns was also released on Nintendo Switch during this time.

These products, and this theme park expansion, were the real reason Donkey Kong was featured in the first Mario film. Growing audience interest in the character, following his appearance in the film, directly increased awareness and, in turn, the earnings potential of the Donkey Kong brand.

Yes, a movie could still happen, but, like theme parks, video games are also a more profitable venture than movies, often generating more than ten times the annual revenue. A large part of The Super Mario Bros. Movie was then used to pique audience interest in upcoming products in a way that will be replicated in upcoming years.

The Future For Nintendo Is In Spinning Off Its Other Brands

Fox McCloud in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Nintendo might still produce a Donkey Kong movie. Still, the company’s plans are clearly far bigger and tied into many more kinds of media than big-screen storytelling alone can accommodate.

Fox McCloud from Star Fox getting his own story set up in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in a similar role to Donkey Kong’s in the first film, but this does not necessarily mean that Star Fox will get another cinematic adventure.

Instead, it speaks to a larger brand concern. Rehabilitating the Star Fox brand and using it as an important part of Nintendo’s future is the more likely outcome here. Nintendo likely used the character in the film as an opportunity to restore cultural awareness, as a kind of advertising for future products.

In the coming years, then, it is almost certain that more Star Fox games will make their way to the Switch 2 console, and that the character will also have some level of theme park presence. The same is likely true of the characters from Pikmin who were also featured in the film.

Could A Smash Bros. Movie Happen Eventually?

Super Smash Bros Ultimate title screen with all kinds of Nintendo characters featured prominently

A Smash Bros. movie could be fun, but it does not appear to be planned at present. In a recent Polygon interview, Shigeru Miyamoto addressed rumors of the film directly:

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. As you know, my rule is that Pikmin can appear in any [Nintendo] series.

This actually makes more sense than one might expect. After all, the first Mario movie was immensely popular and earned over $1.36 billion worldwide. While the sequel could earn somewhat less due to weaker reviews, it is still certain to be one of the biggest movies of the year.

With that in mind, it is hard to imagine any other possible characters or brands to feature in a Smash Bros. movie that would increase a film’s potential earnings over simply doing another Mario sequel.

Certainly, time spent focusing on the Ice Climbers or Ness from Earthbound would not add any measurable value to a Smash Bros. film, and could even hurt its earnings by obviously reducing Mario’s central role. In addition, despite the size of the brand, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu notably earned less than a third of the first Mario movie’s global take.

As well, the studio needs to test out the value of its other intellectual properties, as with the upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie, to see their earnings potential in theaters. If other brands are able to achieve significant earnings on their own, then considering a Smash Bros. movie might begin to make sense.

At this time, however, Nintendo has much more savvy plans for its business in mind, which will see the brand expand further, using The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as well as its sequels and spin-offs as paid advertising for future games, theme parks, and merchandise. All things considered, it’s a good time to be a Nintendo fan.