Super Mario Galaxy Movie Is Nintendo’s Iron Man 2 (And That’s Not A Good Thing)

Super Mario Galaxy Movie Takes the Iron Man 2 Approach

When Iron Man 2 hit theaters in 2010, a lot of fans were slightly disappointed. The first film was a tight, focused, character piece about Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) evolution into the hero Iron Man. Iron Man 2, however, arrived when Marvel Studios was in the midst of rapid expansion of its universe. Thor and Captain America both had solo franchise films on deck, which, along with Iron Man and Hulk’s films, would lead to the big Avengers team-up event. It was a lot of work to put on Iron Man 2‘s shoulders, and the film suffered for it: The sequel was one part continuing story about Tony Stark’s history (Whiplash), his growth of character and development of his Iron Man armor, while the other part was all universe-building, with NIck Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and SHIELD’s “Avengers Initiative” all shoehorned into the mix. Ultimately, Iron Man 2 was the first instance where fans had concern that building a shared universe, and still providing satisfyig solo film experiences, was not a mutually achievable goal.

Now Nintendo fans are having the same worry about that cinematic unvierse, after seeing Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The film sacrifices the more cohesive story, character arcs, and themes of the first film, for a chain of sequences over half a dozen colorful set pieces, which are all pulled straight from Super Mario and other Nintendo games. There is little in the way of true arcs for any of the principal returning characters, nor is there any real thematic core to the film. Instead, we get cameoes or Easter eggs that suggest these Super Mario movies exist within a much bigger shared universe – one that some fans are already dubbing as the “Smash Bros. Universe.”

Build The Smash Bros. Universe The Right Way

Super Smash Bros. is one of Nintendo’s most successful brands: the game series pulls characters from more than a dozen different Nintendo brands, while also incorporating characters from other game developers (ex: Capcom’s Street Fighter series). The original game featured characters like the Super Mario Bros., Peach, Donkey Kong, and The Legend of Zelda‘s Link and Princess Zelda – all of whom have either appeared in a Nintendo movie, or will be appearing in one soon (Zelda). Super Mario Galaxy Movie added another player to that mix: Fox McCloud, hero of the aerial combat game series, Star Fox, who is voiced by Glenn Powell. To say that Fox is an exraneous addition to the film would be an understatement: the character (who has never been part of the Super Mario games) is clearly there just to expand the scope of the universe, beyond the confines of Super Mario lore.

This kind of bait-and-switch universe building is something that Marvel Studios has stumbled over repeatedly – especially in the era afer Avengers: Endgame. The overemphasis on gimmicky crossovers and cameos (rather than making each project as good as it can be) has weakened the MCU brand significantly, and called the entire shared unvierse franchise approach into question. So one would think that Nintendo would play the game smarter – especially after beating the odds and making The Super Mario Bros. Movie both a billion-dollar box office hit, and a satisfyig standalone film. Abandoning the standalone focus so quickly gives fans ample reason to be cynical about Nintendo’s jump to the movies. Especially if we never actually get that awesome Star Fox anime that Super Mario Galaxy Movie teased us with.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now playing in theaters.