Featured Image Credit: Nintendo
Topics: Super Mario, Nintendo, TV And Film
Super Mario Odyssey looks to make an unexpected return in 2026, but perhaps not in the manner you might think.
We could be here all day discussing our favourite games, moments and characters in Nintendo’s legendary Super Mario series. Ever since its inception in 1986 on the NES, the franchise has continued to entertain millions of fans across multiple generations, and not just in the world of video games.
Over the years, we’ve seen a Super Mario children’s animated series, a live-action movie in 1993 that may be in the “so bad it’s good” category, countless merchandise and much more.
In 2023, we were also treated to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a 3D animated production from Illumination, the creators of the Minions movies, in collaboration with Universal Pictures and Nintendo.
Advert
The Super Mario Bros. Movie went on to smash box office records and earned a 95% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also somehow only scored 59% from critics, which baffles me, to be honest.
Following the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it should come as no surprise that a sequel was announced earlier this year with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and just this week, it got its first proper trailer.
What’s more, not only were we treated to the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie, but two new cast members were revealed, including an MCU Avengers star.
As the name of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie quite clearly suggests, it’s inspired by the two Super Mario Galaxy games that originally launched on the Nintendo Wii. However, following a tease in the recent trailer, it also has an inspiration from the 2017 Nintendo Switch title, Super Mario Odyssey.
As brought to our attention by the Twitter user Stealth40k, a scene in the most recent trailer looks to feature the Sand Kingdom, the third kingdom in the aforementioned Super Mario Odyssey. Judging by the trailer, there also seems to be a hint of inspiration from the Nintendo GameCube title, Super Mario Sunshine.
The trailer looks to have portal hopping, which could explain why more than just Super Mario Galaxy has inspired the movie, and could leave the door wide open for even more surprises. Only time will tell.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is set to arrive in cinemas on 3 April 2026. Between now and then, hopefully, we’ll get another trailer revealing more galaxies.