Every Famous Nintendo Cameo Confirmed in ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’

Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.’Ever since the end of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, with its ending hinting at the appearance of Yoshi, one of the biggest questions about its sequel was who else would appear? Now, with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in theaters, we finally have the answers for who cameos in this highly anticipated sequel. The film has been giving us little hints here and there leading up to the movie’s release of who we might expect to see, with Pikmin and R.O.B. both showing up briefly in ads, and the reveal that Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) would be making an appearance. And while there are many cameos in this second film, it’s not the Super Smash Bros. of Nintendo characters that some might have hoped or expected. However, there are some major characters to catch as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi traverse through this new galaxy.

Yoshi Sees Some Old Faces on His Trip to New York City

Soon after we meet Yoshi (Donald Glover) for the first time, we get a quick montage of his adventures to New York City, soundtracked by Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize”. In this sequence, we get a glimpse of a few characters that were more prominent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Spike from the game Wrecking Crew is still hanging out at the Punch-Out Pizzeria, while Francis the dog even gets eaten by Yoshi and turned into an egg. But the biggest standout is clearly Donkey Kong, causing havoc, and embracing his inner King Kong. Could this be what a Donkey Kong spinoff could cover?

A Gang Comprised of ‘Super Mario Bros. 2’ Villains

Image via Universal Pictures

On their search for Rosalina (Brie Larson), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in a casino with questionable gravity. Within this casino, we find a table of villains from Super Mario Bros. 2, including Mouser, Birdo, Clawgrip, and the leader of this group, Wart (Luis Guzmán). Considering SMB2 was the Japanese game Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic with Mario characters inserted into it, it’s a nice homage to some of these villains that have been mostly forgotten.

R.O.B. Is Also a Slow Pain in Movie Form!

Image via Universal Pictures

Speaking of forgotten characters from Nintendo’s past, another great cameo comes from Peach and Toad visiting the Gateway Galaxy. As they try to find information on where to go, they visit a booth run by R.O.B. (Ed Skudder), who is painfully, frustratingly slow in giving directions. Before he was a playable character in Smash Bros., R.O.B. was a toy robot accessory for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The toy basically handled another NES controller, and “played along” with the only two games released for this toy: Gyromite and Stack-Up. It was a cool idea executed poorly, but hey, at least R.O.B. is cute!

Pikmin Touch Down, but Without Olimar?

Image via Nintendo

Again, at the Gateway Galaxy, Peach and Toad are looking for a ship, and in their search, a tiny spaceship lands in front of them. Out of the ship comes a small group of Pikmin creatures from the Nintendo strategy series of the same name. The Pikmin series has long been a favorite of famous Nintendo game creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, and the characters have also been included in the various Super Nintendo World lands at Universal Studios parks. They’ll throw those little plant guys in anywhere.

Fox McCloud Barrel-Rolls Into the Movies With His Team

Image via Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo

Finally, when Peach and Toad do find a pilot, it’s none other than Fox McCloud, who has a whole backstory about why he’s at the Gateway Galaxy. As he stands next to his Arwing and tells his story, we get a stylized animation rundown of Fox’s past, including a quick look at his team, including Falco, Peppy, and Slippy (who he makes a joke about, naturally). The cool animation here makes for a stand-out moment in the movie, and hopefully, if we get another Star Fox game in the near future (or maybe a spin-off movie?), it’ll utilize this type of animation.

Baby Mario and Luigi, a T-rex and a Super Scope

Image via Universal Pictures

As Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi start to finally track down Bowser (Jack Black) and Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) on their ship, Bowser Jr. teaches them a lesson by shooting Mario and Luigi with a weapon that looks like the Super Scope. This is yet another piece of outdated tech from Nintendo that has been revitalized in recent years by Smash Bros. The update to the light gun peripheral was a shoulder-mounted gun that only worked with 12 games that were released in the early ‘90s. But turning Mario and Luigi into babies with it is much cooler than the games you could play with this SNES gun.

After Bowser Jr. shoots Mario and Luigi, turning them into babies, the gang falls onto a planet with a giant, realistic T-rex. First off, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi were first introduced in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, and we did get a quick look at these two baby-fied characters in a flashback in the first movie. The T-rex in this scene, however, is a clear reference to the T-rex that is found early on in Mario’s newest 3D platforming adventure, Super Mario Odyssey, released in 2017 on the Nintendo Switch.

Mr. Game & Watch Joins the Battle!

Image via Nintendo

In The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s climactic fight, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi face off against Bowser and Bowser Jr. Throughout the film, Bowser Jr. has used his Magic Paintbrush (which he first used in Super Mario Sunshine) to draw various enemies into the real world. At one point in this fight, Bowser Jr. loses his paintbrush, and Luigi grabs the tool and draws…Mr. Game & Watch. Luigi apologizes for his poor drawing, but at first, this throwback character holds his own (yet another character/item redeemed by the popularity of Smash). Mr. Game & Watch is actually an amalgamation of characters from various Game & Watch titles released in the 1980s on portable handheld devices. If anything, the featureless Game & Watch characters actually predate Mario by a year, so maybe he should be Nintendo’s mascot?

Yoshi Is Back on Top of the Castle

Image via Illumination

While not so much a cameo, it is a fun nod to Nintendo’s past. Near the end of the film, the Mushroom Kingdom, aided by the Lumas, help rebuild Princess Peach’s castle. In the movie’s final moments, Mario grabs a Super Cape power-up and flies to the top of the castle to plant the flag on top. For just a second, we can see Yoshi on top of the castle, waving at Mario. This is actually a reference to Super Mario 64, in which you could only find Yoshi in the game if you found all 120 Stars, then took a cannon to get on top of Peach’s castle. It’s a quick joke, but a solid callback nonetheless.

Lumalee Is Back and Darker Than Ever

Image via Illumination 

In another fun callback to the first movie, we find that Fox and Toad have dropped off Bowser and Bowser Jr. in jail, where their guard is none other than Lumalee (Juliet Jelenic), the blue Luma that Bowser had imprisoned in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Lumalee’s dark view of the world was one of the highlights of the first movie, so it’s great to see her mentally abusing Bowser and Bowser Jr. as they’re now trapped under Lumalee’s watch.

Daisy Hints at What We Could See in a Third Mario Movie

Image via Nintendo

In the movie’s final post-credits scene, we return to the Gateway Galaxy where we get a scene with a thieving monkey named Ukiki (Roxana Ortega), who, in the last shot of the movie, comes face-to-face with Daisy. Considering that the first film ended with a Yoshi reveal, ending on Princess Daisy is a bit of a surprise, as she’s probably not one of the more major characters one would expect to hint at the future of this film franchise. First introduced in 1989’s Super Mario Land on the Game Boy,

Daisy has become more prominent in games in recent years, becoming a playable character in spin-off games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Tennis, and the Mario Party and Mario Kart games. She was also played by Samantha Mathis in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, where she was romantically linked to Luigi. Earlier on in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Luigi mentions that if Mario were to date Princess Peach, maybe she’d have a friend for Luigi — it seems entirely possible Daisy could be that potential friend in a third Mario movie.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now playing in theaters.

Release Date

April 1, 2026

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack

Writers

Matthew Fogel

Producers

Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto