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WMG / The Super Mario Bros. Movie

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Wild Mass Guessing pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

Refrain from using first-person pronouns, please. This is a WMG page, not a forum.

Wild Mass Guessing for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

    open/close all folders 
    Misc. 
The upcoming 2023 film will use the One-Word Title trope and get called as "Mario."
  • Jossed. It is titled The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

There will be a "real world" subplot.
With promotional images for the movie confirming that part of it will be set in Brooklyn, perhaps there is a conflict where the Mario Bros' landlord, who is the "human" villain of the movie, raises their rent, and threatens to kick them out and close their business if they aren't able to pay it. At the end of the movie, Mario and Luigi pay the landlord in gold coins from the Mushroom Kingdom, and as a result the landlord grants them ownership of their shop so they don't have to ever pay rent again.
  • Somewhat confirmed. There is a small conflict between the Bros and Foreman Spike, but it doesn't really get eloborated on.

The movie takes place in 1980s Brooklyn
In one promotional image of the Mario Brothers in Brooklyn, they are very close to the Brooklyn Bridge. This part of Brooklyn is currently full of modern high-rises. The lack of these buildings in the picture as well as the cars on the street suggest that the movie might take place during the '80s or '90s, coinciding with the Golden Age of Nintendo.
  • Jossed. The characters are shown using smartphones, which definitely didn't exist back then. It does have somewhat of an '80s aesthetic, though.

The Illumination Entertainment Logo Joke will involve the Minions playing the original game.
Specifically, a Minion will be playing on an undocked Switch with Minion-themed Joy-Cons (which will be Product Placement as said Joy-Cons will be released at the same time as the movie), and we hear the classic Game Over jingle, resulting in said Minion rage-quitting.
  • Alternately, the Minion won't be playing the game, and he'll just be dressed as Mario, jumping around the logo. Minions already have overalls, so Mario jokes with them are inevitable.
  • Another possibility is having the Minions interacting with the Goombas. When a Minion accidentally stomps on a Goomba, the rest of the Goombas end up chasing the Minions off.
  • Yet another: Two Minions (dressed as Mario and Luigi, fitting the overalls) show up and announce the Illumination logo. Then a third (dressed as Wario) shows up wielding a fart gun and chases them off. (It's Wario. He's a canonical Gasshole.)
  • And another: The logo scene would begin as normal, complete with a Minion going "ILLUMINATIOOOOOOON!", only for said Minion to trail off when he notices the actual company logo is missing. A Toad, voiced by Samantha Kelly in the usual shrilly voice, will say "Sorry, but the logo is in another castle." The Minion then angrily storm off. Leads to an end of credits gag where the same Minion manages to find logo and triumphantly does the logo reading.
  • The Minions will sing the classic end of level fanfare.
  • The Minions will find a "?" block and two of them will attempt to hit it. Two of them will use their heads, only to cry out in pain. The third (possibly Bob) will hit it with his fist, causing a coin to come on, much to his joy.
  • A Minion will yell "ILLUMINATIOOOOOOON!" when Bowser comes from the left and chases the Minion off with his fire breath.
  • The Minions will sing "Illumination!" to the classic tune of World 1-1.
    • Jossed. We actually get a minion starting a Mario Kart race.

We might get a Nintendo opening logo in a similar vein to how the Sega logo in the Sonic movies and the Playstation Studios logo in the Uncharted movie is presented
The opening logo features other Nintendo franchises outside of Mario in some capacity.
  • Yes and no. While there is a Nintendo logo, it only involves Mario and Luigi.

There will be at least one self-deprecating joke towards the original movie.
  • Jossed, this film has absolutely no relation or references to the 1993 adaptation.
    • Although the Mario Wiki claims that Bowser invading New York at the ending is quite similar

The "Mario Bros" part of the logo will also be used as the logo for Mario and Luigi's plumbing company.
it's based on the New Super Mario Bros. logo.

Guesses about Charles Martinet's cameo.
  • A brief gag of Mario's voice changing to his game counterpart's (possibly a Translation Convention gag similar to Pokémon Detective Pikachu where he appears to be speaking Italian-sounding gibberish to a character who can't understand him).
  • A brief voice for Mario after he ingests helium, causing him to speak in his more common voice before it wears off.
  • Mario and Luigi's father.
    • Confirmed.
  • Reprising his role as Wario, possibly in The Stinger.
  • The Narrator.
  • One or more of his boss characters from Super Mario Advance (Mouser, Fry Guy, Triclyde, Clawgrip, and Wart).
  • Reprising his role as Toadsworth.
  • Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, in a flashback.
  • Princess Peach's father, the king of the Mushroom Kingdom.
  • An Expy of Paarthurnax. It could be the Ruined Dragon, or, more likely, a Canon Foreigner.
  • An Ink-Suit Actor version of himself in Mario's home world.
  • If the theory that there will be a variety of kingdoms is true, he will be one or more of the kings.
  • There will be a commercial for the Mario Bros. Plumbing business with Martinet voicing a "mascot" version of Mario.
  • At the end of the movie, after Mario becomes a famous hero, Martinet will play an actor playing Mario in a stage play that looks like Super Mario Bros. 3.
    • Jossed, aside from Mario & Luigi's father. Martinet's other character is Giuseppe, a friend of Mario and Luigi's who bares a striking resemblance to Jumpman, Mario's original iteration.

The mayor of New York/New Donk/Wherever Mario and Luigi come from will be an Expy of Dr. Wright.
As a nod to Bowser's cameo in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game.
  • Jossed. Similarly to her role in Super Mario Odyssey, Pauline is shown to be the mayor of New York.

Mario's French VA from the movie will become his regular worldwide VA in the games once Charles Martinet retires from the role.
Luigi's first N64 voice actor (Julien Bardakoff) was also French. The French dub has gotten a surprising amount of worldwide attention due to how close Mario's VA sounds to Martinet, so Nintendo might take that feedback into account and have Charles pass the torch to him as Mario's official international VA in the games, just as long as he can say simple English and Italian phrases in an Italian accent.
  • Jossed. Mario's new voice actor is Kevin Afghani

Other minor main series Mario races will appear in the movie
Since penguins appeared in the teaser trailer, it's reasonable to assume that this movie won't follow the "all the friendly supporting characters are Toads" trend that was prevalent throughout The Eighth Generation of Console Video Games. Other main series races that have only made fleeting appearances since their debuts include Piantas, Sprixies, and all sorts of creatures from the Galaxy games as well as Odyssey.

The movie will make references to other Nintendo franchises
Nintendo loves to reference its other works in many different ways, and there's a good chance they'll sneak in some cheeky references here and there:
  • If Bloopers appear, one will at some point say "Woomy", in reference to the Splatoon series.
  • Mario will stumble upon a warp star while searching for Power Stars.
    • Confirmed. References to Punch Out!, Kid Icarus and Star Fox are among the film's many Easter Eggs.

Donkey Kong's appearance will be a quick rehash of his eponymous game's plotline at the beginning of the movie.
New Donk City will be undergoing its early developments when Pauline gets kidnapped, and Mario rescues her. Afterwards, Mario discovers that the city expansion has been cutting into the Kongs' territory and butts heads with Foreman Spike over it. Whatever results from that may lead to a chain of events ending with Mario and Luigi getting warped off to the faraway Mushroom Kingdom for the first time.
  • Jossed.

The credits will end with either Chris Pratt or Charles Martinet saying, "Thank you so much for watching our movie!"
Mario's been known for saying, "Thank you so much for playing my game!" at the end of most of his adventures, like Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2.
  • Jossed.

Where the classic game Leitmotifs will appear:
Brian Tyler is said to be incorporating the themes into his score, so it's best to speculate where those themes will appear.
  • The Game Over jingle will appear during Mario's Darkest Hour.
  • The lose a life jingle will play whenever Mario makes a mistake or fails at something.
  • The Invincibility jingle: Assuming the Power Stars in this version are a Composite Character with the Invincibility Stars, maybe if Mario absorbs one, the jingle plays as he wrecks everything.
    • Confirmed. It played multiple times in the movie, first as Mario and Luigi defeat Bowser and second during the credits.
  • Underground: Well, random caves, obviously.
    • Confirmed. It plays while Mario and Luigi are in Brookyln's sewer system.
  • Peach's Castle: Peach's Castle. With a dash of Peach's own theme from the original games.
    • Confirmed.
  • Easton Kingdom: If the desert kingdom ends up being Sarasaland, then either during an underground or pyramid section, or when Bowser invades.
    • Jossed.
  • Airship: Bowser's personal theme. Ideally, it first plays when Bowser invades the penguins' palace.
    • Confirmed.
  • Rainbow Road: The Rainbow Road scene, of course. Possible candidates are the Super, 64, Double Dash!!, and 7 versions. Considering possible connections to Galaxy, the Wii version could play; that theme contains snippets of the Good Egg Galaxy theme, which could perfectly segue into Galaxy themes.
    • Confirmed. The Super version plays as Rainbow Road is first seen.
  • Bowser's Castle: When either Mario brother is walking through Bowser's castle (or one of his castles).
  • The final battle between Mario and Bowser will use the final boss theme from either Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy 1, or Super Mario Odyssey.
    • Why not a mashup with all three instead?
    • Alternatively/in addition, "Ultimate Koopa" (the one from 64) will be used for a pre-battle scene with Bowser. Bonus points if Kamek or someone else is actually playing it on a pipe organ.
      • Semi-confirmed. The one from Super Mario Galaxy 1 is played but in a scene where Bowser isn't involved at all.
  • The sad theme from Super Mario RPG, just maybe?
    • Jossed.
  • "75m", during the battle with DK.
    • Jossed.
  • A brief snippet of "Super Bell Hill" from Super Mario 3D World will play when Mario gets the Super Bell.
    • A snippet of a suite from the score includes renditions of the Super Mario Bros. 1 and 2 Ground Themes, the Underground Theme, Captain Toad's theme from Super Mario Galaxy, and the Hammer Bro miniboss music from Super Mario Bros. 3.
      • Jossed. "Super Bell Hill" isn't played at all.

Tenacious D, Jack Black's band, will do a cover of "Ignorance is Bliss" by Jellyfish for the movie.

There will be a reference to dropping a baby penguin off a cliff.
  • Since the trailer showed an entire kingdom of blue penguins, this would be a good reference. It will likely be Bowser, Kamek, or one of the other villains threatening to drop the baby penguin in an Unhand Them, Villain! moment.

Some of the movies original ideas will be incorporated into future games.
  • For example, how Illumination designed the characters or how Chris Pratt may replace Charles Martinet in doing the voice of Mario in upcoming games made by Nintendo.
  • Also, if Donkey Kong gets a 3rd DKC Returns, he'll be able to use the fire flower like how he does in the movie with the same power-up design and if not DKC Returns, it'll probably be used in the next Mario Party game.

Foreman Spike will replace the Mario Bros. after they go missing.
And we'll find out at the end that Wario and Waluigi (voiced by Charles Martinet) have taken their place.
  • Alternatively, the Wario Bros. could already be Spike's goons, and he'll enlist them to search for his employees, unknowingly sending them straight to the Mushroom Kingdom.
    • Jossed.

The end credits will be Chris Pratt singing "Do the Mario"
  • Because, why not?
  • Alternatively, Chris Pratt, in a complete Medium-Shift Gag coupled by an Actor Allusion, is seen dressed as Mario and dancing as well as singing. Bonus points if Charlie Day joins him dressed as Luigi.
    • Jossed.

The end credits will have Seth Rogen singing the DK Rap.
  • If not here, then in the rumored DK spinoff movie. Because why not?
    • Bonus points if Fred Armisen joins in to "take it to the fridge!"
    • Jossed. The DK Rap is in the film, but it is the original version and plays when Donkey Kong is first introduced.

There will be a few Fourth Wall Break moments
The video game franchise has had a few various Fourth Wall moments throughout the decades over the video games.

It can be likely that it will happen over a few moments in the film, since it did happen of both animated shows of the Mario franchise as well. It would make sense for Breaking the Fourth Wall to happen in the film.

The music in Brooklyn scenes will draw inspiration from the New Donk City theme.
Even if the movie does make the bros' hometown a regular New York City as opposed to Super Mario Odyssey's New Donk City, using its music, or at least a variation thereof, would still be another fun nod to the games.

After Mario and Donkey Kong's Curb-Stomp Battle (or possibly before), the excited crowd of spectators will chant "DK! Donkey Kong!"
  • Confirmed. Cranky Kong has to call out Diddy Kong by name when Diddy alone kept going.
As with Minions: The Rise of Gru, there will be a tie-in ad for Liberty Mutual
Mario will run the practice course and blunder numerous times before Peach reveals they're insured with Liberty. The jingle is then played in 8-bit.
  • Jossed.
The "sweet angel of a dog" mentioned on the Testimonials section of the SMB Plumbing website interfered with the Bros.' plumbing job.
The user review from "BrKlyn Couple" says that SMB Plumbing left their house a total mess and would have given them a lower score if their beloved dog hadn't gotten along so well with the plumbers. It's possible that the Big Friendly Dog was so rambunctiously friendly with the plumbers that it caused a major leak in the process, resulting in Mario and Luigi getting unfairly blamed for the mess.
  • Or the dog kept attacking the brothers, much to the owners' cluelessness.
    • Confirmed.

The Mario Bros Plumbing Office will be an exact copy of the one from the Super Show.

After the day is saved, the heroes will celebrate their victory...
With cake, of course! It'd be a nice homage to Super Mario 64.
  • Jossed.

There will be a revival of the Donkey Kong Country TV show.
Donkey Kong has spoken full-on sentences for the first time since that cartoon. If not, the rumored Donkey Kong centric movie could name-drop the term "banana slamma". Also supporting the theory is the recent Return to Krocodile Isle short, which reprised the actors of Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Klump, and Krusha.

The movie is a In-Universe film and Lakitu is its in-universe movie director.
Considering that Lakitu is a iconic minion of Bowser's army and how Mario Kart 8 has him use cameras, it would make sense on Lakitu not appearing at all in the film was due to being the director of the movie behind the scenes.

    Mario and Luigi 
The movie will explain where Mario and Luigi got their signature caps with their initials.
The trailer implies that this movie will follow Mario's old backstory of being a normal guy from Brooklyn. Most people don't go around wearing hats with their initials on them, so it would be interesting if we got even a brief explanation of why Mario and Luigi do. The explanation could be as simple as "Our mother made them for us," or "Our mother bought the caps and sewed our initials onto them."
  • Jossed.

Mario and Luigi's parents will be in the movie... and they will die.
Based on multiple interviews with the cast talking about the importance of family, the testimonials on the plumbing tie-in website, the cast lists online, and the composer alluding to a scene of Mario and Luigi in a waiting room, there are multiple signs leading to one or both of Mario and Luigi's parents kicking the bucket. This will, in turn, add to the emotional stakes of the plot.
  • The parents are in the film, but they live.

The movie will provide a definitive answer regarding Mario and Luigi's last name.
The latest word from Miyamoto is it's Mario, but he's changed his mind before, and this would be a good opportunity to permanently settle the matter.
  • Jossed.

Mario and Luigi are sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom at the same time, but are separated and have to find each other.
The poster revealed a network of differently colored pipes. The Bros get sucked down one, but it branches off in two directions: Mario is ejected near Peach's Castle, while Luigi ends up somewhere near Bowser's territory. Their main goals now include reuniting with each other.
  • The second trailer heavily implies that this is the case.
    • Confirmed.

Mario and Luigi originate from New Donk City, where they work as construction workers for Foreman Spike.
In Super Mario adaptations from the late 80s to early 90s, Mario and Luigi were depicted as plumbers originating from the real world's Brooklyn. With this movie seemingly shaping up to be an origin story of sorts, and the poster referencing kingdoms from Super Mario Odyssey, we could see a return to this idea, but slightly adapted using elements from the Odyssey continuity. And since New Donk City is also closely connected to Pauline and Donkey Kong, it seems like a fitting place for the brothers to originate from.
  • Jossed. Mario and Luigi did work for Foreman Spike, but they did not come from New Donk City but instead its inspiration (Brooklyn).

The brotherly bond between Mario and Luigi will be the main focus of the story. Their top priorities will be to find each other.
Mario and Luigi are separated whilst going through the warp pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario exits near Peach's Castle while Luigi ends up in Bowser's territory, where he gets captured.

Mario's main goal is to reunite with Luigi. Peach gives Mario a bargaining chip: if he helps her stop Bowser, she will help him find Luigi.

Luigi won't spend the entire movie in captivity. He'll escape on his own and traverse Bowser's kingdom trying to find Mario. During his time in imprisonment, he acquires knowledge on how to stop Bowser. If he runs into Bowser's minions, he runs for his life and disposes of them using items from his toolkit, which he brought with him. Alternatively, Luigi uses his tools to sabotage Bowser and give Mario the advantage.

When the brothers reunite, Luigi will see Mario being guided by this little Mushroom Person and wonder whether or not Toad is trustworthy.
Maybe not aloud to his face, at least. He may pull Mario aside to ask him privately, "And you trust the fungus?"

The movie will end with the brothers wanting to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom.
After Bowser's defeat, Mario and Luigi will get ready to through the pipe/portal that will send them back to Brooklyn, only for everyone to wistfully remember the bond they all developed during their journeys. This will cause the brothers to realize that they just don't have it in them to leave their new friends behind...thus they'll decide not to go through with leaving, and will instead decide to go on many new adventures to come!
  • They do decide to stay in the end, but there isn't an onscreen moment where they have to choose between one or the other.

Alternatively to the above theory, the Mario brothers will be unable to return home.
Perhaps to defeat Bowser, ensure he doesn't escape, or deny him a victory, the warp pipe leading to Mario and Luigi's home will be destroyed or deactivated (possibly by their own hand), stranding the two brothers in the Mushroom Kingdom. This will lead the two of them to take up permanent residence in the kingdom, being able to start a new life for themselves.
  • Jossed.

In contrast to the above theory, the Mario Bros. will be able to return home.
With the SMB Plumbing website’s MAR10 day update, the new Testimonials show how the people of Brooklyn are impressed and puzzled by the skills that Mario and Luigi are able to use such as entering Pipes. Then again, these reviews could be from the Toads of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Testimonials could actually just be referring to a scene in a TV-spot where the Mario Bros. discover a large Pipe Maze that eventually leads to the Mushroom Kingdom.
  • Confirmed.

The Bros will have a Conscience Makes You Go Back moment in the climax.
In the final battle, Peach will tell Mario to infiltrate Bowser's Castle and find Luigi while she goes after Bowser. Luigi has escaped on his own and is trying to find a way to leave the castle to find Mario. The brothers run into each other and have a reunion.

It suddenly occurs to the both of them that they’ve essentially accomplished their respective goals. All they need to do now is find the Warp Zone back to Brooklyn. Extra points if the very same pipe Mario emerged from can be seen.

Despite some brief temptation, they both decide they can’t bail on the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom after everything they’ve been through. Mario, from his experience and bonding with Peach, Toad and DK, and Luigi, from his firsthand experience of Bowser's cruelty towards himself and the penguins.

Mario and Luigi head for Peach to help her stop Bowser.

  • Jossed.

    Mario 
The film will delve into Mario's past.
Cranky Kong and Foreman Spike will show up, and they were some of Mario's earliest enemies besides Bowser. Cranky was the original Donkey Kong that kidnapped Pauline, while Foreman Spike menaced the bros in Wrecking Crew.
  • The trailer indeed seems to indicate this is his first time visiting the Mushroom Kingdom.
    • The most we see in the film is a flashback scene with Baby Luigi and Mario.

Mario has an Italian accent, but he tries to cover it
His accent comes through when he’s excited, and by the end of the movie he’ll stop masking it.
  • Jossed. He and Luigi only use an Italian accent for their plumbing commercial. The two have native Brooklyn accents.

Mario's iconic catchphrase will be used as a Pre Ass Kicking One Liner during the final battle.
Imagine, Bowser has Mario on the ropes and is about to finish him off, but Mario gains a Heroic Second Wind as he says...
"Let's a go!"
  • In the trailer, he does say "Let's-a go," but he says this nervously to steel himself in anticipation for a fight against DK.
    • Confirmed.

A Mushroom Retainer rescued by Mario will tell him the infamous "princess is in another castle" message and immediately fear this strange new hero getting upset about it.
Contrary to a lot of fan jokes, however, Mario will be understanding about it and show the retainer sympathy before sending him off somewhere safe to continue his search.
  • Jossed. The "princess is in another castle" is in the film, but it is said by a Toad guard while trying to keep Mario and Toad from entering Peach's castle.

There will be a reference to the infamous backwards long jump glitch.
There could be a moment where Mario tries to make a special jump... and he smashes completely and totally backwards right into a wall instead.
  • Jossed.

Mario is part of a prophecy that Kamek predicted.
The prophecy says "A mostacho human will be the one who will defeat Bowser and stop him from rule the world". Bowser sends some of his troops to trap "the mostacho human" into the pipe portal and kidnap him to ensure he will not interfier with his plans. However, instead of Mario, the troops kidnap his brother Luigi because he entered in the Dark Lands while Mario entered in the Mushroom Kingdom. That's why when Bowser tries to force information out of Luigi about Mario, Luigi refuses to rat out his brother.
  • Jossed.

    Luigi 
Luigi will be treated as the butt of jokes for most of the movie, but will have his moment where he saves the day (or helps in a very big way) near the end.
It's no secret that in the games, Luigi tends to be overlooked or treated differently when compared to his brother by the other characters (either they don't remember his name or constantly compare him to Mario) or by circumstance (rotten luck). And it'll be no different in this movie; however, there may come a time where all hope seems lost for Mario and everyone else (he, Peach, and most of the Mushroom Kingdom have been captured by Bowser). And Luigi, whether out of pure heroism or dumb luck, manages to save everyone, giving them a chance to stop Bowser once and for all. And his accomplishments are acknowledged, too.
  • While he wasn't as much of a Butt-Monkey this time around, with Mario actually getting kicked around even more than him, this is otherwise confirmed.

Luigi came to find Mario
Mario went to the Mushroom World separately without his brother, Luigi. Luigi came separately on his own, since he was being chased by skeleton koopas.

How else would he have come to Mushroom Land?

  • Jossed, they fell in the warp pipe together but got separated in transit.

Luigi and Daisy will attempt to defeat Bowser from the inside
After Bowser locks Luigi away, he will meet Daisy, a fellow prisoner. Daisy explains more about what exactly Bowser is doing, including that he already attacked her kingdom. She tried to fend him off, but he eventually overpowered her. From there, Luigi will cheer her up and the duo will attempt to sabotage Bowser while still imprisoned. Whether or not it works will depend on what they can manage to do, although they don't fully succeed until Mario and Peach bust them out.
  • Jossed. Daisy isn't in the movie.

At the end of the movie, Luigi will be forced to go through the same training Mario did
At the end of the movie, after Bowser has been defeated, and the Mushroom Kingdom is saved, the Mario Bros. will be hailed as heroes; however, they know Bowser will return someday, so both brothers will be needed at their A-game when that day arrives. So, much to his chagrin, Luigi is made to endure the same training regiment that Mario went through earlier.

Luigi will team up with the prisoners
Because of how he, King Penguin, including the Blue Star are all prisoners that were kidnapped by Bowser, they’re likely going to team together on escaping.
  • Jossed.

Luigi uses the Ice Flower to escape.
Some merchandise consists of stickers of the Power-Ups that will be seen in the movie. An Ice Flower is among them. The final trailer reveals that Luigi will be locked in a cage suspended over a pool of lava. Another important detail is that the Penguin King and his subjects are also imprisoned here.

The Penguin King reveals that he or one of his soldiers managed to smuggle an Ice Flower into the Castle. Luigi, unaware of its abilities, takes it for comfort. If he finds a way to leave his cage, he accidentally falls out of it, doomed to die by incineration. But when he hits the lava, he freezes it. Using his newfound power, he liberates Lumalee and the Penguins.

  • Jossed. Princess Peach is the one who uses the Ice Flower in the climax, while Donkey Kong manages to free Luigi and the other prisoners just before they're dunked into a pool of lava.

Luigi will meet Peach and Toad
Once he escapes as well as be freed from Bowser’s Castle, he’ll be able to meet Peach and Toad once he reunites with Mario.
  • Confirmed.

Luigi will be convinced to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom via seeing Daisy
At the end of the movie, as everyone is celebrating, Luigi will getting ready to leave when he learns that Mario is interesting in staying, or at least coming to visit fairly often and wants Luigi to join him. Naturally, he will not be pleased with this an exchange like this will occur.
Luigi: Bro, are you NUTS!? This place is a death trap and I can't think of a single good reason for me to say here!
Peach: Oh there you two are! I wanted you to meet my friend, Princess Daisy.
(Daisy comes over and Luigi sees her with a Crush Filter)
Luigi: Uh, you know what? Oh second thought, maybe I could come visit.
  • Jossed. Princess Daisy doesn't appear at all.

    Wario and Waluigi 
Wario and Waluigi will have cameos in the film.
And these will be the characters that the cast reveal says Charles Martinet will cameo as.
  • What if Wario appears in The Stinger, voiced by Martinet? Especially since he's voiced Wario at length in WarioWare Gold, and that game was dubbed into multiple languages so there are also international voice actors lined up for the character.
    • Jossed. Wario and Waluigi do not appear at all in the film.

If Wario does appear at some point, there will be a reference to the "Wario show you fun" and Wario Apparition memes.

Wario becomes jealous of Mario's fame and decides to retaliate by starting his own game development company, setting up a WarioWare spinoff.

Wario doesn’t appear to be in the movie because he’s going to be the Big Bad of the sequel.
At the end of the movie, Mario will be given a castle by the Mushroom Kingdom as an award for saving the day, setting up Wario stealing it in the sequel, a la Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.
  • The part where Mario gets his own castle has been jossed, but Wario being the Big Bad of the sequel is still a possibility.

    Bowser 
Bowser will propose to Princess Peach.
  • In this movie it will be more about Bowser seeing Peach as a prize from his conquests like a literal Trophy Wife.
    • Adding to this, perhaps when Bowser comes knocking at Peach's door, it'll be the only time during Bowser's conquest that he'll come against any kind of meaningful resistance, further fueling his desire to invade the Mushroom Kingdom and make Peach his own. Perhaps too, he'll go from seeing Peach as nothing more than a box to tick on his conquest list to becoming a lifelong obsession of his to satisfy.
    • Confirmed.

Bowser will be given a Freudian Excuse in this movie. If not in this movie, then a potential sequel.
As a parallel to the theory above about exploring Mario's past, Bowser's past will be explored as well. We all know Bowser wants the rule the Mushroom Kingdom and make Princess Peach his queen, but we never really figured out why. Fans could only speculate.

Possible Titles on Bowser’s Villain Song
Since it has been confirmed that Bowser will be given a musical side in a Villain Song, there are possibilities of what his song may be named.

Bowser’s children will appear
Since he and most of his army are appearing in the film, it is possible that his children will appear or as a cameo in the film.
  • Jossed.

Bowser will develop a crush/obsession with Peach because of her fierce personality at some point in the film
Seeing a princess willing to stand up and fight his forces will impress him enough to decide that she is meant for him and drive him to try and force her to marry him.
  • Jossed. He's already had feelings for Peach before the events of the movie took place.

Bowser is after Peach because her kingdom holds the Grand Star.
In the teaser trailer, Bowser attacks an ice kingdom and acquires a Power Star from the ordeal. Maybe it's possible that he's after Power Stars to seek more power throughout the film, and despite all his efforts and all the Power Stars he's after, that's not enough. This is when he sets his sights on the Mushroom Kingdom, and it's got its own Power Star, too: the Grand Star. (Well, technically, Grand Stars only came into play in Super Mario Galaxy, but if Power Stars are the film's MacGuffins, the Grand Star of the Mushroom Kingdom can be the ultimate MacGuffin.)
  • It's possible that the Power Stars and the Grand Stars would also receive an Adaptational Origin Connection with each other, similar to the Master Emerald being forged of the 7 Chaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).
    • Jossed. Bowser is only after Peach to propose to her using the Super Star he stole.

Bowser invading Brooklyn/New Donk will be a plot point, possibly a potential climax
Bowser, upon learning where the brothers are from, decides to take over the real world in addition to the Mushroom World, whether it be defeating the brothers and leaving for Brooklyn/New Donk to conquer the Earth, or Bowser is badly beaten and barely escapes to the real world, only for the Mario Bros. to give chase either way and bring him down.
  • Confirmed. The climax involves the fight being taken to New York and Bowser being defeated there.

There will be a definitive answer to Bowser's true height, or an explanation on his inconsistent size.
In the games, Bowser's size has never truly had any real consistency (aside from being bigger than most of the other characters); sometimes he's only slightly bigger than Mario, while other times he's gigantic. In some cases, this is explained away with magical enhancements (either from Kamek's own magical abilities or some artifact that Bowser got his claws on), but in most cases, he's just bigger than usual. Perhaps in this movie, the reason for his size increase would be attributed to the Power Stars he's collecting.

Bowsette will make a cameo appearance.
Could be for a quick gag, especially if she retains Jack Black's voice.
  • Unlikely, considering that Nintendo has no comment on Bowsette and likely doesn't want to associate.
  • In a twist, she ends up being an amalgam of Bowser and Toadette, rather than of Bowser and Peach as people would be led to believe.
    • Jossed.

Bowser is collecting Power Stars to rule the world by using them to become invincible.
The reason Bowser is going around to the various Kingdoms taking their Power Stars is because the movie is combining the two most-known depictions of yellow stars with eyes in the Mario series (Power Stars from Super Mario 64 and Super Stars from the original Super Mario Bros.) into one. I assume that when all the Kingdom's Power Stars come together, it makes the user completely invincible. This explains how Bowser is about to "rule the world" and is a nice plot reference to the setup for Paper Mario, where Bowser also uses a Star-related thing to become invincible. Mario (and perhaps Luigi as well) will likely get to use the Power of the Stars at the film's climax and experience the classic flashing and invincibility jingle.

Related to the above, the infamous line will be delivered by an enemy, like Bowser.
Mario will be going through one of Bowser's castles, looking for Princess Peach (who had been captured). He eventually finds a large cage with a person inside, and—thinking it's the princess inside—goes to investigate, but discovers too late that it's not the princess, but one of Bowser's minions in disguise, and that he has fallen into a trap. To really rub salt into the wound, Bowser himself shows up and gloats, "Sorry, Mario! Your princess is in another castle!".
  • Bonus points if the minion in question is Kamek wearing Peach's dress.
  • Jossed. The "princess is in another castle" line is used in the movie, but it's used by a Toad guard trying to keep Mario away from the castle. As for the first bullet, Kamek does dress up as Peach, but not around any of the heroes.

Bowser's supposed Villain Song will be a lyrical remix of one of his themes.
Because how metal would that be, especially coming from Jack Black?
  • Jossed. He does sing a song, but it's an original piece. It has a little bit of that Jack Back "metal", though.

Bowser will turn into Giga Bowser for the final fight.
And his transformation will copy that from Melee and Ultimate, in which it seems like Mario has defeated him, but Bowser gets back up and finally unleashes his full power!
  • Jossed. Bowser doesn't undergo any transformations in the final battle.

Bowser's ultimate goal is to rule the universe.
Although he says he's gonna rule the world, Peach mentions that the whole universe is counting on them. Maybe Bowser intends on starting small and working his way up.

Bowser will have Love at First Sight for Peach.
Bowser is, at first, only interested in conquest. He wants the Mushroom Kingdom for its prosperity, but the moment he sees the princess, he'll be so taken by her beauty that he declares he'll take her kingdom by making her his bride.
  • Jossed. At least onscreen, as Bowser knew Peach before the events of the film.
Bowser is a Disc-One Final Boss

    Toad 
During the adventure, Mario and/or Toad will find an actual poisonous mushroom
Much like the shrooms introduced in The Lost Levels, instead of being beneficial to Mario, it'll hurt him.
  • If this is the case, there would likely be a Brick Joke towards the scene with the blue mushrooms, with Toad more or less repeating the joke, but with the added addition of him clarifying that he's 100% certain this Mushroom would kill them on touch.
    • Jossed. The worst mushroom Mario comes across is the Mini-Mushroom, which he makes the mistake of using during his fight with Donkey Kong.

The Toad who accompanies Mario will turn out to be, or become, Captain Toad.
He's got a backpack, at least. Maybe Peach will promote him to the position of Captain at the end for his bravery.
  • Jossed.
  • Not entirely. The film does implicitly portray Toad as a Composite Character of the classic Toad and Captain Toad, down to using the Captain Toad Leitmotif. They just don't outright say it.
  • Doesn't rule out him going full out Captain Toad in a future film.

Toad is or was a spy for Bowser.
  • This post talks about the unseen intelligence reporting to Kamek with credible evidence that it's Toad, particularly how Bowser knew about the ambush and why Toad was free enough to smuggle in an Ice Flower for the wedding.

    Princess Peach 
There will be a joke about Princess Peach having ''Toadstool'' as a last name
She was originally called "Princess Toadstool" (at least in the english localizations) in the games, before that was dropped in favor of "Princess Peach". Perhaps the joke could be that she legally had her name changed to avoid embarrassment.

Princess Peach will get captured by Bowser in the last act.
After most of the movie where Peach is the strongest adventurer in the party, she’ll be caught off guard and captured in the film’s Darkest Hour, forcing Mario to take charge and be the hero in the end.
  • Downplayed. She is forced to surrender and agree to marry Bowser to save Toad and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, Toad later smuggles in an Ice Flower for her to take on Bowser and his minions, especially when she learns Bowser planned to sacrifice his captives as part of the ceremony. Mario and DK soon arrive to join the climactic fight, with Mario and Luigi saving both the Mushroom Kingdom and New York.

There will be an explanation as to why Peach was the Token Human in the Mushroom Kingdom before Mario and Luigi came along.
Maybe she was originally from their world too. Maybe she found her way to the fantasy world before the Toads had a leader, and they chose her.
  • Zigzagged. While her being a Token Human is acknowledged and it being shown she did come from another world, no actual details were revealed. Mario does theorize that she might've come from his world, though.

There will be some kind of Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure or Second-Act Breakup between Mario and Peach
Mario's main priority upon entering the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time is to find and rescue his brother, Luigi, who had been taken captive by Bowser's forces; however, he doesn't have the means, knowledge, or power to mount a daring rescue. So he agrees to Peach's request to take part in training and activities in hopes to better prepare him for what is to come (namely, Bowser's invasion).

Despite the initial hiccups due to his inexperience, Mario eventually learns to better navigate the Mushroom Kingdom and its intricacies, and he and Peach slowly form a bond throughout the training.

Eventually, though, it becomes clear to Mario that he's wasting his time in what he sees as "dumb, time-wasting games" (perhaps he finds out that the "training" he was doing was just a bunch of games part of some festival or contest, and that they had no real intention of helping with rescuing Luigi). This hurts and infuriates Peach, who had up to this point had slowly fallen for Mario. This ends up with Mario going on his own to find Luigi, setting up the Third Act.

  • Jossed.

Princess Peach will (initially) not think too highly about Mario
Since this is an origin story of sorts for Mario—entering the Mushroom Kingdom for the very first time—both he and Princess Peach will meet for the first time, as well. As such, she'll most likely see him as, at best, an oddity of sorts from another "world", and at worst, a mere commoner, meant to fix her castle's plumbing. It'll only be by the end of the movie when Peach will truly see Mario as the hero and champion he was meant to be, much like in the mainline games.
  • Confirmed. While she does show curiosity over seeing another human for the first time in her life, Mario has to actively seek out her help and prove himself to her.

Peach will encourage Mario to not give up at the end of the second act
After failing in the Training Games and the DK fight area, Mario decides to give up since he's doesn't live the expectations of being a hero as Peach and Toad expected him to be. Peach decides to let Mario go so she, the Toads and the Kongs will go to face Bowser and save Luigi and the others. Before she leaves, they have a heart to heart talk, and this will encourage Mario to go back to the Training Games, and this time succeeding with encouragement. Mario would then go back to the Mushroom Kingdom and join Peach and the others to the Karts and travel through the Rainbow Road to defeat Bowser and his troops.
  • Jossed. The second act ends with Mario and Donkey Kong separated from the others, the Kong army being captured by Bowser's forces, and Peach being forced to marry Bowser.

During their journey, Peach will mention along the way her own side hobby of baking.
As a specific example, she'll mention something like an old family recipe for strawberry cake. And at the end of the movie, after the conflict is resolved, the protagonists will enjoy one such strawberry cake together.
  • Jossed.

    Characters 
The movie will have a supporting protagonist who will eventually have a fateful encounter with Mario.

  • After the movie opens with the Mario characters, the scene shifts to an average boy named Zack and his Canine Companion named Bentley.
  • Zack is in his room working on his science project for school while Bentley watches.
  • Zack's mom comes into his room and sends him to the grocery store in her favor.
  • Zack and Bentley encounter Mario and Luigi on the way to the store somehow.
  • Zack becomes shocked at who he and Bentley see.
  • Eventually, Zack and Bentley will meet the rest of the Mario characters, such as Yoshi and Donkey Kong.
    • Of course, they meet Zack's mom when they come over and after being bewildered, Zack's mom decides to make dinner for all of them since they're guests.
  • Throughout the movie, Zack and Bentley will go on an adventure with Mario until the end.
    • Thankfully Jossed. Seems to be just a movie about Mario discovering the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time and having to stop Bowser.

Unexpected character guesses
They could do a Paramount Sonic the Hedgehog-ish thing and have a Walking Spoiler character appear in a stinger for the film that becomes important in the next iteration. Any additional speculations from other tropers are welcome.
  • There is already a Donkey Kong film spin-off in development, and Cranky Kong is among the characters appearing in the Super Mario Bros. film. Where's Diddy Kong?
    • Jossed; if you look closely in the second trailer, you'll see Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong in the audience of the Gladiator Games between Mario and his enemy Donkey Kong.
  • Geno? They would run into a snag with this one since the character is owned by Square Enix rather than Nintendo, but it would make the fanbase pretty proud of them since he's an Ensemble Dark Horse.
  • Fawful. Another ensemble darkhorse, and one that would be easier to include without going through licensing issues.
  • Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, who will appear as Bowser's Co-Dragons in the sequel. There will also be a Running Gag where everyone's debating on whether Junior is Bowser's only child or the Koopalings are all his siblings.
    • Bowser's brother will make an appearance in the sequel just to add to the confusion by saying the Koopalings are his children then immediately saying that the Koopalings are Bowser's children.
  • Kevin Keene, in a similar role to Nick Fury in Iron Man, asking Mario to consider joining something bigger for himself.
  • King Boo, he will serve as the main villain of the Luigi spinoff movie and has captured Mario.
    • Semi-jossed; while he actually appears in this movie as part of the wedding audience, he doesn't do anything particularly villainous aside from attacking Peach when she rebels.
  • A certain glove, who will be watching Mario, DK, and Luigi and starts to consider them for a tournament.
  • Dimentio would make for a very interesting reveal as a potential Greater-Scope Villain, especially given his popularity in the fanbase. Perhaps he could appear in his original role as a Starscream Dragon to Count Bleck?

Cranky Kong is also from the same world Mario and Luigi are from.
The games have mentioned plenty of times that Cranky Kong was the original Kong that Mario fought in the first games. This will apply to the movie, too, Cranky being an ape that the Bros. dealt with in the past, and who later found himself in the Mushroom Kingdom and started his own society.
  • Seemingly jossed.

Characters, lore, etc. from the Mario RPGS will not appear nor be referenced in any shape or form.
I've seen many predictions for RPG characters to appear in this movie or sequels. Guys, let's be realistic. That is not going to happen! These characters have barely, if ever, appeared anywhere outside their home subseries and no casual fan would know who they are. And with the Mario and Luigi series parent company shut down, and Paper Mario being reduced to mostly main game references, this is even less likely! I know we had the flying Bowser's Castle from the first Paper Mario in the first trailer, but that's not really something too far out there, and its design is different from the game.
  • Only mildly Jossed. There are a number of minor nods to the RPGS sprinkled throughout, noted in the Mythology Gag page, but no actual characters or physical elements.

Rosalina is the Greater-Scope Paragon of the movie.
Bowser is trying to gain power from Power Stars, which are established in Galaxy as being born from Lumas, Peach mentions galaxies when talking about the universe, and Lumalee is part of the Happy Meal toyline. If Rosalina doesn't make a physical appearance, she at least has some influence in the setting.

Lumalee has been imprisoned for an incredibly long time.
Given how oddly calm he is in the situation, has absolutely no hope of escape, and his uncanny behavior, he may very well be one of if not the first prisoner of Bowser, and had fallen victim to Sanity Slippage.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's friendship will have its Origin Story here.
Diddy will start off as just a big fan of DK Island's champion who doesn't necessarily know him on a personal level. Then as the Kongs get involved in the war against Bowser, Diddy will jump in to help, with the two getting to know one another better and forming a bond as a result.
  • Jossed, as Diddy only appears once as a big DK fan and doesn't appear after Mario and DK's match, let alone get to interact with Donkey Kong on a personal level.

Mario will at one point crack a joke about Donkey Kong having stolen King Kong's name.
It'd be a Biting-the-Hand Humor kind of joke, of course, since it would be Illumination poking fun at its parent company for having sued Nintendo over Donkey Kong's name and lost.
  • Alternatively, since Cranky appears to be royalty here, maybe someone will address Cranky as "King Kong", but will be told to call him "Cranky" instead.
    • Jossed.

Mario and Luigi's father looking almost exactly like Talon isn't just a consequence of them both being designed to like Mario, but a case of outright Reused Character Design
This is conjecture based on what we've been told in interviews - that the designs for their parents were given to the team by Nintendo themselves and were apparently many years old by that point; presumably, at some point in Nintendo's history they considered putting their family into a game, promo, etc., but the idea fell through and the design was shelved. The guess here is that, during the production of Ocarina of Time, the artists decided not to let the design go to waste and used it as the basis for Talon's design, creating the situation we're in now - to us, it seems that Papa Mario looks a lot like Talon, when in fact, it's Talon that looks a lot like Papa Mario.

Mario's father and Giuseppe will not appear in the sequel(s)
Since Charles Martinet voices both of them, and he retired after the movie, it would make no sense for them to reappear in the sequel. For Mario's father, it could be handwaved as him temporarily visiting some relatives in a different country, while Giuseppe might just plain not appear physically. That is assuming Kevin Afghani won't be voicing them, though that wouldn't be the best option, honestly.

    Koopas 
The Koopa with the eyepatch will play at least a semi-important role in the movie.
Given he has quite a few distinctions from the rest of the Koopa army (spiked shoulder plates, no helmet, and obviously his eyepatch) and he has gotten a couple of focus shots in the teaser, this may mean he might have more of a role in the story, possibly being Bowser's third-in-command (after Kamek) and being a minor antagonist for the Bros.

One or more enemy species from the games will get Adaptational Heroism.
Based on the trailer, so far it seems like Bowser's only minions are Koopas (Koopa Troopas, Dry Bones, and Kamek, a Magikoopa.) Goombas, Piranha Plants, Boos, Bob-Ombs, and other iconic Mario enemies haven't been seen yet. Maybe Bowser's army really is Koopas-only in this version, and some of these other species might be good guys.
  • Bowser's army being Koopas-only seems to be jossed. The second trailer shows Goombas, Piranha Plants, Shy Guys, and at least one Bob-Omb mingling with the Koopas.

Related to the above, Goombas will side with the Mushroom Kingdom at first, only joining Bowser later on.
And unlike in the games, there will be reasons that can range from Fantastic Racism to "We didn't get cake"
  • Goombas briefly appear in the second trailer on Bowser's side, at least.

The paratroopa on the poster will be the threat of the Rainbow Road section
Given that he seems to have a spiky blue shell and wings, it would make sense to be a reference to the spiny shell from the Mario Kart games.
  • Confirmed. After Mario takes out his vehicle, the blue-shelled paratroopa performs a kamikaze attack on Mario and Donkey Kong, not only knocking them off the track and into the water below, but also destroying part of the track as well.

The Spinies will have a Heel–Face Turn
Because of how the are the only ones who are not respected by Bowser, it is possible that they can turn against him, which could give them a Throw the Dog a Bone moment.
  • Jossed. The Spinies aren't seen again after they're mentioned.

    Kingdoms 
The desert kingdom shown on the world map is Sarasaland, and Daisy will have a major role in the film.
Looking at the world map showing Bowser's conquest path, each locale can easily be identified as the Mushroom Kingdom, the Koopa Kingdom, Kong Island, Yoshi's Island, and the now-destroyed Penguin Kingdom, except for the random desert section that has yet to make any appearances. Since these locations have established governments to them and aren't just stock locations like in the New Super Mario Bros. games, the desert seems like an odd outlier, until remembering that Sarasaland from Super Mario Land was a desert with various Egyptian, Saudi Arabian, and Chinese influences, and is established to be Princess Daisy's kingdom. From this, the desert would make more sense to be on the map if it were a kingdom such as Sarasaland, and would give Daisy a valid excuse to be involved in the story with her kingdom being one of Bowser's targets.
  • Jossed; the desert kingdom on the map is shown on-screen in a travel montage to the Jungle Kingdom, which confirms that it's the Sand Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey; neither Daisy nor Sarasaland make any appearance.

Kingdoms like the Cap Kingdom, the Cascade Kingdom, the Seaside Kingdom, the Luncheon Kingdom, and the Beanbean Kingdom will be referenced.
Unlikely with the last one considering what was said in the "Characters" folder regarding RPG characters and elements.

There are more new kingdoms than the Penguin Kingdom
It would be rather odd if the Penguin Kingdom was the only new addition to the Mario world here, and Bowser likely needs more than 1 Power Star to make his plans work. This could potentially mean that Bowser travels to multiple other kingdoms inhabited by past species from Mario games in his flying castle to conquer them, Curb-Stomp Battle or not.

Yoshi's Island is part of or is the Dinosaur Kingdom
On Toad's backpack are souvenirs of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Sand Kingdom, and the Dinosaur Kingdom. We see two of those, but not one. This trooper believes that the movie version of Yoshi's Island is the same as the Dinosaur Kingdom.

    Powers 
The power stars boost the user's own abilities

  • It's possible the stars give a boost to whomever holds them, and that's why Bowser is after the stars, to boost his power so he can conquer the world the Mushroom Kingdom resides in.
    • Confirmed.

The Mega Mushroom is a Dangerous Forbidden Technique

  • Given that the mushroom powerups seen so far have to be physically eaten and the Mega Mushroom is bigger than Mario, using one isn't exactly easy.

    Post-Release 
Grant Kirkhope will be properly credited for the DK Rap in later prints of the film.
He was pretty upset to see the song credited and not him, so Nintendo might fix this to appease him.

There's another portal or mini portals to the Mushroom Kingdom.
It seems weird that a frying pan and NES cartraige would end up in the mushroom kingdom when the main pipe hasn't been accessed in years, so I believe there has to be another pipe or mini portals connecting Earth to the Mushroom Kingdom

"Kranky" is a Regal name
When he was just the Crown Prince, King Kranky was known as "Donkey Kong", like in the games.

The two Toads guarding the entrance to Peach's castle are (or will come to be) the playable Toads in New Super Mario Bros. Wii
The two toads are blue and yellow, the same colors as the playable Toad characters in the New Super Mario Bros. games. In fact, it's quite possible that this was an intentional reference to them.

The events of Donkey Kong still happened. Kind of.
The carpenter was actually Mario and Luigi's father when he was younger, and the damsel was Pauline's mother, Lady. Sometime into the early reconstruction of New York's plumbing system, a large pipe main deep underground was somehow inadvertently connected to the Warp Zone, and soon after the Kong who would one day become Cranky Kong stumbled into the world, caused a ruckus above ground, and was soon after caught and turned into a circus act. Becoming infatuated with Lady, then-Donkey Kong broke free from the circus and kidnapped her, leading to her close friend Mario Senior coming to rescue her. Afterwards, he'd settle down with a wife and have twin boys. And while his heroic acts were immortalized in an arcade game called "Jump Man", he doesn't particularly like talking about it. He and Lady would remain friends, and Mario and Luigi would get to know Pauline in their childhood through this.

The world of the Mushroom Kingdom isn't in an alternate reality; it's another planet in the same universe as Earth, elsewhere in space.
Neither are referred to in terms like "alternate realities" (unlike the last film adaptation), with the term "world" being used in such discussions instead. Not only can "world" be used interchangeably with "planet", but Peach responds to Mario's speculation that she's from his with musings on what a big universe it is with lots of galaxies. That warp pipe connecting the sewers of Brooklyn to the forests of the Mushroom Kingdom is an interplanetary warp. How it got set up in the first place remains a mystery, but there are multiple established space-faring beings within the Mario lore.
  • If this turns out to be true then it would confirm that the Toads, Bowser and his army, and the rest of the Mushroom World's inhabitants are all aliens in this continuity as opposed to being mythical creatures like in the game continuity.

The Mushroom Planet Robotnik ended up in after the events of the first Sonic is this world of the Mushroom Kingdom, but it's too vast for someone unfamiliar with it, even one as smart as him, to exit the Mushroom Forest and find inhabited places.
And Toad wasn't out exploring at the time.

Building off the above two theories, Warp Pipes and the Rings from the Sonic movies were created based on the same warp energy.
The Rings were built to tap into a specific energy that can link two points in space together in a manner that temporarily creates passage between the two, and these became relatively widespread in use among a number of inhabited worlds. The Warp Pipe was created independently of the Rings in another part of the universe, tapping into a dimensional plane of that same warping energy called the Warp Zone, thereby creating more permanent portals between points that are fixed to specific locations and worlds.

Toad was originally going to be portrayed as The Friend Nobody Likes.
A LOT of Toad's dialogue was cut in the final movie. Mostly how Mario would never see Luigi again. The only line that remains is how Luigi “is going to die imminently”, and Toad instantly backpedals after seeing Mario's unimpressed reaction. The filmmakers realised that Toad was liable to become unlikable, perhaps even borderlining The Scrappy. As a result, Toad was watered down. An Orphaned Reference can be seen through Mario's irritated expression after Toad invites himself on the quest and when he tells Toad “we're not friends”.

    Casting Theories 
Casting possibilities for the other characters for this film or future films

If Mario had been voiced by Chris Evans instead of Chris Pratt, his dialogue fighting Donkey Kong would've been slightly different.
When DK asked Mario if he's had enough yet, Mario would've responded, "I can do this all day."

    Sequel Theories 
Spin-off movies for Donkey Kong and Luigi will be teased in the story.
The inclusion of Cranky Kong is odd, seeing as he's the only Kong who hasn’t been seen alongside the Mario characters outside of crossover games. He will likely be portrayed as one of Mario's foes prior to Bowser. Donkey Kong will still be Cranky's grandson, and more members of the Kong Clan will either be namedropped or make surprise cameos, setting up a movie based on Donkey Kong Country.

Luigi will have a considerable amount of screentime on his own, having a subplot about being separated from Mario and discovering the way to defeat Bowser. He'll have run-ins with Bowser's minions, and either fight back in creative ways or run for his life. This will set up his solo movie based on Luigi's Mansion.

  • Boos and Kremlings will also appear in cameo roles, setting up their respective leaders, King Boo and King K. Rool, as said spinoffs' main antagonists.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be a Yoshi's Island spinoff set in a different continuity.
The story of Yoshi's Island probably wouldn't work in the canon of this movie, because Yoshi's Island implies that Mario and Luigi were born in the Mushroom Kingdom, while the trailer for this movie implies that the Bros don't go to the Mushroom Kingdom until they're adults. Still, Kamek is in it, so at least the filmmakers are aware of his existence...
  • An alternate take here would be that, while the brothers were born in the Mushroom Kingdom, their parents took them away (to New Donk or wherever the film puts them prior to arrival) when they were too young to remember.

This will be a Stealth Sequel to the live-action film.
Highly unlikely, of course, for more than one reason, but you never know.

Probably not this movie, but sequels and spinoffs will introduce completely original characters who will eventually migrate to the games.

There will be a reference to Sarasaland, setting up Princess Daisy's introduction in a potential sequel.
After Bowser has been defeated, Princess Peach, fearing that he'll return one day, decides to continue looking for allies to strength their bonds. She has her sights set on Sarasaland, and as a Sequel Hook, proposes her plan to Mario & Luigi, who agree to travel there in the future.

This is the start of a Smash Bros movie universe
There will be a post-credit scene where the heroes are hanging around that pulls out to reveal a monitor. Several familiar logos are seen on other screens as unseen people discuss what happened and how the heroes aren't ready yet. As they debate who to check on next a screen glows gold and forms a fractal made of three triangles.
Nick Kirby: You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Mario, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet.
Flash McCloud: MARIO! LISTEN TO ME NOW! PRINCESS ZELDA IS THE KEY! AM I TOO SOON? I'M TOO SOON! FIND US!
Dr. Samus Graham: The organization we work for, S.M.A.S.H., was established in the wake of this discovery. A multinational coalition formed in secrecy to search for him. Study him. Learn everything we could.
Dr. Marth Serizawa: We call him...Pikachu.

The Mario Bros. will have separate adventures in the sequels
Mario will star in Super Mario World, where he'll team up with Yoshi to face off against Bowser once more, now accompanied by his koopalings.

Luigi will star in Super Luigi Land, set in the arid kingdom of Sarasaland where the bullying Wario bros. have kidnapped princess Daisy, prompting Luigi to toughen up.

Eventually there'll be a sequel called Mario Party where everybody gets stuck in a game world after Bowser's bratty son gets ahold of a magic macguffin that lets him alter reality so he can have fun forever.

Rosalina will appear in the sequel, and she will tie into Peach's backstory.
Peach saying there's a lot of galaxies out there when she's wondering where she originally came from implies something cosmic about her backstory. Rosalina will come to the Mushroom Kingdom looking for Lumalee and will recognize Peach upon seeing her.
  • That conversation also takes place at the foot of a tree that heavily resembles the one from Rosalina's storybook, strengthening the connection.

While Peach and Rosalina being related is something that was scrapped from the games, perhaps the movies will utilize that plot point.

Wario will pull a Knuckles, joins Bowser in the revenge plot, just to be recruited by Mario at the end.
Wario did have some times where he allied with Bowser and the Mario Bros. While it seems that Knuckles from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 had accepted Sonic and sides with him permanently, Wario will eventually part ways and become rivals once again.
  • Or Wario gets bribed into changing sides, bonus points if he changes sides again with Bowser doubling what he is being paid.

Mario will have to abandon Yoshi to get an extra jump, which will be a dramatic highlight of the sequel.
It likely won't be in a situation where Yoshi will die, but it could still be one where he could be captured or get separated from Mario.

Donkey Kong will have a crush on Pauline
As a nod to how Donkey Kong would kidnap her in the Mario vs Donkey Kong series, DK here would simply just have a crush on a very uninterested Pauline.

Peach will interact with Mario and Luigi's family
As Mario and Luigi now have a warp pipe that takes them back to Brooklyn whenever they want to, it is a possibility that Peach will end up joining them and interact with their family.
  • Bonus points if they do what all families do and start teasing Mario over when he's going to ask her out.

The Sequel could act as a cross between Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island
Since there's hints of a sequel floating in the air and since there was a Yoshi egg hatching near the end of the movie. Perhaps it could probably lead to a sequel based off of the third Mario Bros. game, Super Mario World and the Yoshi's Island series. It'll probably have the Koopalings as the main antagonists trying to get Bowser back from Princess Peach and they end up causing a good level of destruction in their wake and the Mario Bros, Toad and the Princess have to stop them, but knowing the Koopalings are high in numbers, they end up at Yoshi's Island where they meet the titular Yoshi's who end up allying with them to stop the terrible septet. The Koopalings also will have personality shifts in the sequel; Ludwig will be a German or British Accented Music Prodigy with a Draco Malfoy complex, Roy will be a tough guy with a boy bander sounding voice, Wendy will be a tomboy with a girly streak, Morton will be a Busta Rhymes sounding Koopa with a love for eating, Lemmy and Iggy will more or less be the Token Good Twin Teammates as Lemmy wants to be part of the circus but is stuck in Bowser's army with his siblings while Iggy will have hyperactive tendencies and will try to hear both sides of both stories and Larry will more or less be the same as his cartoon counterpart.

The Koopalings and Bowser Jr. will appear and have a major role in the future
They haven’t appeared in the film, due to it being likely that Bowser needed to marry Peach, despite his minions pointing out the the latter dislikes him.

With Him now not wanting to marry her, despite pleading for forgiveness, there is a highly possibility that The Koopalings and Bowser Jr. will either appear in the sequel, or other films that could likely have them have a major role in him.

The Koopalings and Jr. will cause Bowser to become a Benevolent Boss like in the games.
His Adaptational Jerkass status in the first film is due largely to their absence. Once they debut, his interactions with them will mellow him out (toward them and his army, at least).

If they appear in the next film, Bowser will be the Koopalings' uncle and Bowser Jr. will be their cousin.
In the story material that this film draws on, Bowser was the Koopalings' father. However, this relationship was retconned in the games since Bowser Jr. is now Bowser's only son, leaving the Koopalings' relationship to Bowser in the games a real mystery. Thus, the easiest way to solve this issue is to make Bowser the Koopalings' uncle, allowing for a familial relationship between them while preserving Bowser Jr.'s status as Bowser's only son.

The Koopalings will be Bowser's kids again in future sequels
This troper feels that the retconning was a dumb move anyway, so it could be a dream come true for Mario fans who want the Koopalings to be related to Bowser again.

Ideas for future villains in sequels

The Mario series has a lot of villains, so there would be a lot to choose from to serve as the Big Bad or as general antagonists for potential sequels, if Bowser does not end up being recycled.

  • Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings, of course. Especially given all of them are just as prominent of a threat to Mario as Bowser himself, and each and every one of them has a distinct personality. Besides, Bowser Jr. is the heir to the Koopa throne, so...
  • Wart, the main antagonist of Super Mario Bros. 2. He’s the earliest villain not named Bowser of a mainstream Super Mario Bros. series, and is one of Bowser’s most prominent foils. Since Luigi is a playable character in that game, this could be his chance to shine as a major character instead of a Distressed Dude.
  • The aforementioned Wario (and Waluigi as well), who is regarded as Mario’s biggest rival next to Bowser himself. It seems to be the most likely case (in regards to the former), as even Jack Black has voiced of having Wario as the next antagonist, with Pedro Pascal as his voice actor.
  • Count Bleck and his team of villains, from Super Paper Mario - They all have strong personalities and a dynamic with each other to the point where they would be entertaining enough villains in an animated film, and due to Bleck's plan of destroying the universe, Bowser could join forces with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the rest of the gang like in the game. Special mention goes to Dimentio, who is the game's true Big Bad, Final Boss, and is arguably one of (if not) the most vile villains in the Mario franchise.
  • Smithy and his gang, the villains of Super Mario RPG and one of the earlier Mario villains not named Bowser. Again, another way of Bowser could join forces with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the rest of the gang since they basically take over his castle.
  • Cackletta and Fawful of the Mario & Luigi series. Especially since both of them have been a threat to Peach’s and Bowser’s forces, with Cackletta possessing Bowser being one of the franchise’s most twisted moments, and Fawful himself as a well-known favorite among Mario fans for his eccentric personality and being a Dragon Ascendant in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
  • The Shroobs also of Mario & Luigi series, since they basically evil Toads that usher in one of the entire franchise’s darkest games; this could mean Mario and co. must team up with their past selves to stop the threat, much like Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.
  • King Boo or Hellen Gravely from Luigi's Mansion 3 - Could serve as the Big Bad of a Luigi’s Mansion film, with one of the two being The Dragon and/or The Starscream.
  • The Shadow Queen, since Thousand Year Door still remains one of the most beloved spin offs and, since they mostly likely won't bring in all the partners, it would also pretty much ensure Ensemble Dark Horse Vivian showing up in the film (since she was her mininon). Not to mention, she could also serve as an Evil Is Not a Toy lesson for Bowser.
  • Captain Syrup and the Black Sugar Gang: given that they never appeared in a Mario game, they could be as antagonists in the sequels.
  • Apart from the first three options as well as King Boo, these villains are unlikely. But if they were to show up in the movie franchise at some point, some changes should be made. If they're integrated the exact same way as they were in their respective games, it may be entertaining for the casual audiences, but predictable for those who already played those games. Adaptation Deviation should be issued. For example, perhaps the Shroobs could appear in the present day rather than the past. Maybe Count Bleck and his minions would generally confine their plans to just destroying the Mushroom and real worlds (the problem with the original story was being too distant from the Mario universe, so this would fix that). There would also be the issue of having to fit their crimes and plans within the movie's timeframe. So maybe they could appear in stories that have little to nothing to do with the games they're from. That would help with making them feel fresh.
  • A brand new villain never seen before in the history of the Mario franchise.

Possible Future Villains
Since Bowser has been defeated by Mario and Luigi, as well as being shrunk and locked up at the Mushroom Kingdom in a bird cage, there are a few possibilities of what villains from the franchise who could appear in future sequels and spinoffs.

  • Bowser Jr.
  • The Koopalings
    • Ludwig
    • Larry
    • Morton
    • Wendy
    • Iggy
    • Roy
    • Lemmy
    • Ludwig
  • The Broodals(?)
    • Topper
    • Spewart
    • Rango
    • Harriet
    • Madame Brood
  • Wario and Waluigi
  • King K. Rool and the kremlings
  • Cackletta
  • Fawful
  • King Boo and Hellen Gravely
  • Captain Syrup and the Black Sugar Gang
  • Metal Mario

The sequel will have Bowser set his sights on Earth after escaping.

Daisy is Peach's sister, and Rosalina will be their mother
This is a combination of the above theories about Daisy and Rosalina. Both Daisy and Rosalina will appear in the sequel, with it being revealed that she is Peach's sister. Rosalina sent both of them the world of the Mushroom Kingdom, but got separated on the way just like Mario and Luigi did, with Peach ending up in the Mushroom Kingdom and Daisy ending up in Sarasaland. The reason Rosalina sent both of them away is because of some calamity involving the villain of the next film, who could be the Shadow Queen, or Dimentio or perhaps an original character, whom she had to seal away along with herself. This will all tie into the main plot of the film, in which Bowser is seeking some power in the cosmos so that he can destroy and remake the universe into one where Peach likes him, but this will create an Evil Is Not a Toy scenario where he frees both Rosalina and the villain, the latter of whom usurps the status of the films main villain from him, forcing him to team up with Mario and the gang. This will be the start of his Heel–Face Turn, or at least the start of him morphing into an anti-villain like he is in the games.

Bowser Jr. and Ludwig will play major roles in the sequel.
  • With Bowser defeated, Bowser Jr. will be forced to pick up where his father left off. Obviously, he'll be filled with self-doubt and fear if he's truly worthy as an heir for Bowser. Ludwig, meanwhile, will serve as his Dragon, while hoping to usurp him and show Bowser why he should be the heir to the throne.

Possible Future Heroes
Since Yoshi is hinted to appear in the future, there are a few possibilities of what heroes from the franchise who could appear in future sequels and spinoffs.
  • Daisy
  • Rosalina
  • Birdo
  • Diddy Kong
  • Dixie Kong
  • Toadette

Possible Crossovers
Because of how the Mario franchise is a common franchise that does crossovers such as Sonic The Hedgehog, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, or other crossovers from The Super Smash Bros., It would make sense for their being possibilities of what crossovers that could happen.

  • The Mario Brothers meeting their mainstream and paper counterparts.

The villains in the sequel will work for an American corporation
  • Let's talk about the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome of a huge castle full of non-humans suddenly crashing down in the midst of New York City. Unless Mario's world is substantially different from our own, some sort of inquest by the US government is inevitable. While it's unlikely that a children's film will make the American government/military itself the bad guy (if only to avoid ticking off the reflexively patriotic portion of their domestic audience) — once the truth is known and made public, it's almost guaranteed that some oil or gas company will immediately move in to try and exploit the Mushroom Kingdom's natural resources for profit. So the sequel is all set to involve the brothers, Peach, and maybe even Bowser teaming up to fight a far darker force than any of them have ever faced before... late-stage capitalism.
    • Jossed by the fact that your Marxist analysis has been disproven by history.
      • Yeesh. Warp Pipe your way to a sense of humor, pal.
      • Disproven how, exactly? Companies have been razing villages and instigating hostilities with foreign nations to get to coal and oil for decades. This seems perfectly on-brand for American corporations. It being unsettlingly realistic or close to home would probably prevent it from being the main plot point of any sequels, but acknowledging the sudden reveal of other worlds to Mario's homeworld seems like a pretty realistic possibility.

Peach's place of birth
Peach doesn't know where she's from and how she's a human amongst the Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom. She's definitely not an Earthling like Mario, but considering that there are many universes connected with the 'pipes', there is one theory where she's from, which may link to something of a 'Nintendo Cinematic Universe'.

She's from Hyrule. The transportation pipe extends to it and for some reason, Peach got sucked into it when she's a toddler. This may mean that if there is a Zelda movie, then Peach can possibly be a 'long lost sister' to Zelda, separated at birth. Alternatively, she may be just a normal peasant girl in Hyrule, but ends up being raised as a princess in the Mushroom Kingdom.

  • The movie doesn't actually make clear that she isn't from the same world as Mario, though; it keeps things ambiguous by having her say she doesn't remember.

    • Funnily enough, Princess Zelda is often depicted as being more tomboyish, and even when passive, she still ends magical support and assistance to Link. Peach is generally pretty active in this film and seems like a composite of Rosalina and Zelda, so her coming form Hyrule would be an interesting way to tie the films together.

      • Likely jossed. As the Zelda movie is confirmed to be live-action, and made in collaboration with Sony rather than Illumination. So the chances of these movies being in the same universe is highly unlikely.

Luigi will get a major role in the sequel or future
Well, because of how he barely had any screen time due to being stuck in the dungeon thanks to Bowser, due to interrogating him with him being freed over the wedding as well as being able to help Mario in taking down Bowser as well as his army when they were transported to their hometown, Brooklyn.

With him currently living with his brother, Mario, Luigi could likely end up having a more major role focused on him hopefully in the sequel or the future.

Mario and Peach's romantic relationship will be fully explored in the sequel
Considering their growing chemistry throughout the first film, as well as their flirty moments, as well as the other characters (Toad, Donkey Kong, and to an extent, Luigi) supporting the idea of them getting together as a couple, plus the fact that Bowser's attempts of getting rid of Mario, therefore ridding himself of competition for Peach's love ended up bringing Mario and Peach closer together than before, there is a chance that they may actually develop a romance in the sequel. Bonus points if Mario goes to date Peach the old-fashioned way (i.e. take her out on a tour around New York, especially Brooklyn).

If King Boo reappears in a sequel (hopefully with a larger role), some of his different designs from across the series will be featured.
In the movie, King Boo has his "normal Boo with a crown" look from the mainline Mario games. Maybe he could transform into his scarier designs from the Luigi's Mansion games. The transformations could be caused by him powering up with some sort of evil energy, or even just through Sanity Slippage.
  • How the Super Mario Sunshine design would work, though, that's hard to say.
  • A possible alternative idea is that there are multiple King Boos, which is a theory sometimes posed by fans of the games.

A future film will deal with multiverse travel
Wario and Waluigi will be evil counterparts of Mario and Luigi from an alternate universe. They can go full Spider-Verse and have the Mario Brothers team up with alternate versions of themselves, including:
  • An 8-Bit version of them.
  • The animated series.
  • The live-action movie.
  • Dr. Mario.
  • Paper Mario.
  • Hotel Mario.
  • The anime.

Wario and Waluigi will be introduced as actual plumbers ripping off the Mario Bros.
Following Mario and Luigi saving Brooklyn, it stands to reason that their plumbing business would really get off the ground and become very successful. So it'd be fairly fitting if Wario and Waluigi, wanting to mooch off Mario and Luigi's recognition and financial success, would start their own plumbing company fashioned after theirs, aping their outfits, brand, and aesthetic (hence the rotated letters on the caps and name rip-offs). This could set them up nicely as rivals or antagonists to the Bros., especially if they end up in the Mushroom Kingdom somehow. Wario and Waluigi may not even be their real names in the movie continuity as a result; maybe they could lean into Wario's previously retconned German roots and Waluigi's real name as given in Nintendo Power, Jimmy Poppadopolos, to make things work.
  • The "Jimmy Poppadopolos" thing is actually a hoax, but otherwise this seems plausible.

If a Luigi's Mansion spin-off film actually happens...
Considering there IS news about a potential Luigi's Mansion spin-off movie, if the movie ever comes into fruition, they'll likely make the Portrait Ghosts from the first game have two cases of Adaptational Sympathy and Adaptational Heroism, the same goes for the staff of the Last Resort from the Luigi's Mansion 3 game (except for Hellen Gravely, obviously).

The Donkey Kong film will take place in a Bad Future of some sort where the DK from the first film will be dead, and the Jungle Kingdom has been beaten back to consisting only of a remote island.
The DK from THAT movie will be Cranky's grandson, complete with a noticeable Age Lift. On the topic of Cranky, the circumstances surrounding him have left him rather bitter and, in a case of Jerkass Has a Point, will be incredibly wistful of the past.

Kamek will hire Wario to free Bowser
With Bowser imprisoned at the end, Kamek decides outside help is needed and hires Wario to pose as Mario and get inside The Castle and free him in exchange for all the treasure and gold inside it. After some bumbling antics, he manages to do so and when he asks for his reward, Kamek and Bowser laugh and double cross him.

Princess Toadstool's Secret Slide will make an appearance.
Mario discovers a Secret Underground Passage in Peach's castle, but instead of a staircase, a steep incline appears as Mario slides down a huge underground labyrinth of the castle!
  • Not to mention an amazing orchestral rendition of the famous slider theme by Brian Tyler that would play along.

The Warp Pipe back to Brooklyn, as shown in the end sequence, will explain why Mario and Luigi don’t appear in a Donkey Kong spin-off.
Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong are regarded as the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest heroes. Bowser including them in the lyrics of his love ballad definitely shows that he considers them a legitimate threat.

Despite their newfound fame, in both the Mushroom Kingdom and Brooklyn, the brothers still work for a living. Their defeat of Bowser boosted their popularity in New York and they’re constantly in demand. With Bowser neutralised, they can continue their plumbing job.

Whoever is the villain of the DK movie, whether it be King K. Rool, Tiki Tong or Lord Fredrik, Mario or Luigi would likely be expected to step in. But they’ll be busy with their job in Brooklyn, leaving the Kongs to deal with the villain.

Daisy's story in a sequel will be about becoming a princess.
Daisy was raised in Sarasaland and accepted by all the various inhabitants, but they treat her as an ordinary citizen. This keeps her backstory from being a carbon copy of Peach's, and a humbler position explains why Peach never heard of the other human girl in their world. The tribes of Sarasaland do not get along with each other, spurring Daisy to unite them against the villains. With affection for Daisy bridging the tribes, they elect her to be Princess of Sarasaland.

The next movie will partially adapt Yoshi's Island.
The Big Bad of the film (whether it be Bowser, the Koopalings, or even King Wart) will use a potion to de-age Mario back into a baby, forcing Luigi to step up. Meanwhile, Baby Mario gets rescued by Yoshi and he will try to reunite the Mario Brothers.
  • Alternatively, a flashback reveals the stork got into a mixup and sent Mario and Luigi to Yoshi's Island as babies, while Peach was intended to go to Earth but ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom. Upon learning this, Bowser may also choose to meddle with the stork and create Bowser Jr.

The sequel will give more focus on the animosity between Mario and Bowser.
As some fans questioned the lack of direct confrontation between the two until the climax, the next movie will have more time dedicated to the iconic conflict now that they've had their first showdown. Bowser's hatred for Mario will now not just be motivated by his paranoia of winning over Peach, but also for the defeat and humiliation that Mario front-lined. And once he escapes, Bowser will make besting and/or killing Mario his top goal before on to winning over Peach and ruling the world. Meanwhile, Mario will resent Bowser for trying to execute Luigi and be motivated to protect his new home so no one will have to live in fear of the Koopa King's tyranny. The two will exchange blows over the course of the movie as Bowser advances his new master plan. Eventually, Bowser will blurt out that he sees Mario as a romantic rival for Peach. Mario will at first find it to be ridiculous and petty on Bowser's part, but will lead to him realizing he does like Peach that way, furthering the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy that Bowser started in first movie.

Bowser will be the Big Bad one more time for the second movie and will instead be Killed Off for Real at the end as opposed to merely being imprisoned again.
  • Similar to Robotnik from the Sonic movies, Bowser will appear as the main villain once more only this time he's actually genuinely killed off by being burned in lava as a reference to the most common ways he's shown to "die" in the games, only this time he dies for real and is never brought back from the dead in the later sequels meaning that he is permanently killed off in the movie universe. This would allow for later sequels to have newer main villains as replacement. This would also allow Bowser Jr. to take his father's place as the new King of the Koopas.

Bowser will be Killed Off for Real in the sequel, only to be brought back in a Post-Credits scene.
Similar the theory above but more similar to the games, this user also want Bowser to die in the sequel (especially given how evil and disdainful he is in the first one despite what others think). Bowser dying would be satisfying. However, bringing him back to life in a mid/post credit scene would pay hompage to the games. Imagine after the heroes take out and destroy Bowser, he'll by resurrected possibly by Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings so he'll appear in future works.

Bowser will become more of a Knight of Cerebus villain and less Laughably Evil in the sequel if he returns as the Big Bad once more.
  • Being imprisoned inside a bird cage while shrunken for a long time must not do well for a person's sanity so it is quite possible that Bowser might suffer from serious Sanity Slippage due to his continuing hatred of Mario and his delusional obsession over Peach getting worse after his first defeat and becomes an even more monstrous villain than he already was only this time he is taken more consistently seriously and is more of a No-Nonsense Nemesis as he doesn't want to repeat another failure against Mario and his friends. He starts by attacking Brooklyn and then the entirety of Mario's world/Earth and makes things more personal for Mario when he starts endangering the lives of his own family by holding them hostage for Mario to see purely to spite the red plumber.

Donkey Kong will kidnap Pauline while in Brooklyn
  • They won't make a big deal out of it, though. Probably just offhandedly reference a Noodle Incident where he "accidentally" kidnapped the mayor for a few hours while in NYC. Maybe mention that he can't go back to Brooklyn without facing charges. That sort of thing.
    • Alternatively, Cranky will be the one to make this reference in keeping with the long-running fan theory that Cranky is an older version of the original DK from the arcade game.

Bowser will be the sequel's Deuteragonist

Bowser Jr. will be wished into existence
  • The sequel's plot will be kicked off by a wish granting Macguffin, which Bowser will take for himself in the climax. Worn out by the race with the heroes, Bowser impulsively wishes for nonspecific "love". Instead of having Peach fall in love with him as he pictured, the wish creates a baby koopa whom he names Bowser Jr. After a tender moment between the new father and son, they decide to kill their enemies together.
    • Or alternatively, Bowser wishes for a Bad Future alternate timeline where he defeated the plumbers and did successfully continue his lineage (Super Japanese version) with Peach in having a child - Bowser Jr., in the end the Mario Bros. undo this wish, and restore everything to normal, but the only thing that remains of this dark future in the ending's present, is Junior.

The sequel will have "Mama Luigi" jokes.
  • Mainly from Mario lightheartedly teasing his brother as they find themselves taking care of the newly hatched Yoshi.

The inciting incident of the sequel will involve the brothers being called to check a commotion in the sewers.
  • That commotion of course being Yoshi, fresh out of the egg and growing fat on all the sewer rats and crabs. They'll then embark on what they think will be a short trip to the Mushroom Kingdom to return him to his native habitat, of course inevitably getting entangled in a larger plot before long.

Luigi's Mansion will be a spin-off film
It's been soft-confirmed that the original film will be the first in a trilogy, but these three films will explicitly be under the "Super Mario Bros." branding. While it will take place in the same continuity, a hypothetical movie adaptation of Luigi's Mansion (which Charlie Day has expressed interest in) will have its own branding and won't officially be part of this trilogy. This makes sense intuitively, as the games themselves are considered spin-offs from the main series, and would also be a good creative decision, allowing the film to be tonally distinct from the others in a way that it would need to be to really work. Furthermore, a faithful adaptation of the series wouldn't affect the status quo very significantly, allowing future audiences to, if they desire, watch only the trilogy without skipping any major beats.

The sequel will be a mix of Super Mario World, Super Mario Land, and Super Mario Bros. 2, while a third movie will adapt Super Mario Galaxy
  • After Yoshi hatches, Mario and Luigi have to hop down various pipes to get him home to Yoshi's Island, with Peach and Toad tagging along, but they take various wrong turns. One pipe leads to a desert world where they meet Daisy, while Bowser will invade another world that is based on Subcon (standing in for Wart). Peach, Toad, and Yoshi (and possibly Daisy) will assist Mario and Luigi in the final battle. The Stinger will tease Wario, who lives in the desert world.
  • A third movie will involve the group meeting Rosalina and going on an interplanetary adventure. Bowser will decide to take over the entire universe or outright remake it in his image. There will be at least one Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) joke involving Mario.

If the overall movie franchise of this movie and its subsequent sequels (and spin-offs, if we are getting Donkey Kong Country and Luigi's Mansion based ones) is successful enough, a reboot of the DiC cartoons could be in the future.
One more heavily inspired by the world created by Illunination's movies and having a much greater pool of references in the form of years of Mario games than the original cartoons did.
  • Following up on this, the cast of such a possible reboot would consist of a fair few Other Darrins. This movie and whatever future movies we have ahead of us voiced a good deal of the characters by big-time celebrities who are far easier to hire for a theatrical film than for an animated series, meaning the show would likely need to hire voice actors capable of replicating the voices the celebrity actors gave their respective characters.

The Sequel will be a mix of Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Galaxy

The "movie will have a supporting protagonist" WMG in the Characters folder above, Refitted for Sequel.
Disclaimer: This is a "just for fun" theory not meant to be taken seriously.
  • Like in the original theory, Zack and Bentley are sent by the former's mother on an errand run to the grocery store and run into Mario and Luigi, who are visiting their family home at the time, along the way.
  • Zack is starstruck because, while the bros just think of themselves as a couple of Brooklyn plumbers who made themselves at home in two worlds, they are the big heroes who saved Brooklyn from a monster.
  • At some point either to or from the grocery store, Bentley runs off on Zack, who follows him underground. As a result, they stumble upon the wild Yoshi that's been living under Brooklyn.
  • Zack and Bentley follow the Yoshi, leading to all three stumbling through the Warp Pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom. Consequently, the boy and dog quickly get wrapped up in whatever shenanigans are happening in the world at the moment.
  • Mario and Luigi, back in the Mushroom Kingdom, spot the two and quickly recognize them from their earlier encounter and realize this is a couple of fellow Brooklynites who are clearly in over their heads!

princessofQueens from the SMB Plumbing website reviews section is future-Princess Daisy.
This ends up being how she first meets the Mario Brothers, which we'll find out about in the sequel, prior to the start of her own adventure that ultimately lands her the position of actual princess.

Boos will be involved with the plot of the second movie; not necessarily as major antagonists but still in supporting roles to whomever is.
The heroes will, of course, beat back the Boos, for which King Boo will express displeasure around the end of the film.

When Wario and Waluigi appear, they will be unwitting instigators of a much more serious threat
Like others as guessed, Wario and Waluigi will almost certainly be comedic sources of annoyance for the heroes rather than actual threats, but the movie would probably need a stronger villain than that, and it would be very in-character for them to, either completely by accident or simply by not knowing any better, release a Sealed Evil in a Can. Being tricked into doing so by another villain is also a possibility.

The sequel will feature a gag where a character(s) touches a Fuzzy
The sequel is most likely going to draw some elements from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and "Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy" is one of the most memorable bits of weirdness from it. There may be an actual Disney Acid Sequence or the film will simply derive comedy from the other characters witnessing them trip balls (maybe during a really inconvenient situation), but if it only happens to one character, it'll probably be Luigi.

In the sequel, the Penguin kingdom will confirmed or seen to have been repaired
Would be nice to know that the penguins got their kingdom restored after the defeat of Bowser.

At some point in the sequel, Waluigi will be shown running a taco stand.

Bowser will gain a new reason to hate Mario
If Bowser were to learn the true reason why Mario stopped his plans to marry Peach and rule the world, in that Mario wanted to save his brother from him, Bowser will begin to target his family and make Mario suffer by making him watch as he tries to kill his family, because he will have gained a new reason to hate Mario; he cannot bear to live in a world where Mario has everything while he has nothing.

Character dynamics in the sequel
The only aspect from the first movie will be that Mario and Peach are still the main characters. However, Toad and Donkey Kong will be replaced by Luigi and Yoshi.

It’s been unanimously agreed that Luigi needed more screentime. Miyamoto and Meledandri are reading every complaint. Mario and Luigi will go on an actual adventure together as damage control. If they do get separated, it will only be briefly. In fact, the movie will focus more on Luigi, mirroring how the first movie was about Mario. It will be Luigi who finds Yoshi, a possible plot point being that they need to return Yoshi to his herd, but Luigi slowly finds himself bonding with the dinosaur.

Toad will be Demoted to Extra, opting to stay behind to look after the Mushroom Kingdom. Donkey Kong on the other hand will be Put on a Bus, not appearing at all. The only reference to DK will be Mario asking if they can recruit him, only for Peach to reply that he has “his own problems”. However, it will be explained what he was doing during the events of the sequel through a spin-off movie.

If a Luigi's Mansion movie is made, King Boo will undergo Adaptational Villainy

    Other Illumination-produced Nintendo Movies 
A possible Animal Crossing film produced by Illumination for Nintendo may follow the implied backstories for some of the special characters.
Tom Nook in particular has a fairly rich implied backstory, including his childhood friendship with Sable, his ill-fated attempt to make it big in the city, and the speculation from Lazy and Jock villagers that he found the Nooklings living on the streets and took them in. Quite possibly during his aforementioned time in the city.

If there is going to be a Kirby movie, it'll be an adaptation of Adventure/Nightmare in Dreamland
This is mostly because Adventure/Nightmare is one of the more simpler games in the franchise, so it would be easy to adapt into a movie, while also giving hints to future events in the franchise like, say:
  • Marx showing up as an ally to Kirby while subtly hinting at betraying him later, maybe even allying with Nightmare for the final fight.
  • Nightmare Swordsman will show up as a base form of Nightmare Wizard or as one of his higher ranking minions.
  • Tiff, Tuff, and Escargo will either be cameos, or full on characters.
  • A post-credits scene will either show Maglor or Zero approaching Popstar.

There will be some crossover between IPs, but nothing will ever come about of "Endgame levels".
As a quick tongue-in-cheek gag, someone may suggest getting everyone together for "some kind of big, awesome fighting tournament," only for the idea to get shot down immediately as something that sounds like it'd be better off as a video game than a "real life event".

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