Entertainment

Mario Movie All-Star Casting Seems Generated By a Computer, Regular People Conclude

The internet is baffled by this cast, especially Chris Pratt as the mustachioed plumber.

GETTY / Nintendo

Chris Pratt had better start growing out his mustache and reading up on pipe-repair, as it was announced that the Guardians of the Galaxy star has been cast as everyone’s favorite plumber, Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie. However, the internet was baffled by the casting and being the internet, took the opportunity to make jokes about the decision.

The most obvious thing that many people pointing out that Mario already has a pretty iconic voice so why exactly did we need to do stunt-casting for an animated movie? It’s like if James Gandolfini had been hired as the voice of Homer for The Simpsons Movie.

Others said that if you are going to stunt-cast, you should at least pick someone who could really make the role their own.

While there were plenty of jokes and memes galore, some people did lament the growing trend in animated movies of hiring massive stars in order to sell tickets. And, of course, people were saying Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario since the ’90s, wasn’t given the role in the film adaptation of the beloved video game character.

And, of course, it was not lost on people that Chris Pratt is decidedly not Italian, which, you may have noticed, Mario is.

Along with wondering what Pratt’s take on Mario’s absolutely iconic voice would sound like.

The rest of the cast was announced as well, with Charlie Day playing Mario’s brother Luigi, Anna Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and Jack Black playing the villainous tortoise(?) Bowser. The casting of Day caused many to wonder why we didn’t get an It’s Always Sunny team-up for the Mario brothers.

And given the unconventional casting, some Twitter folk decided to manifest their own desires for future video game characters in movies, including one guy’s brilliant choice for who should play Kirby.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is slated to come to theaters in December 2022 so there’s plenty of time for Pratt to win over the skeptics. But for now, he may just have to accept the fact that he’s today’s internet punching bag.