Was Chris Pratt’s Mario voice in The Super Mario Bros. Movie “unlike anything you’ve ever heard”? I mean, technically yes, because I’ve never heard Chris Pratt voice Mario before. But the criticism of his casting did not “evaporate” when the trailer was released, as producer Chris Meledandri predicted — if anything, it grew louder.
One of Pratt’s co-stars has his back, however.
“People always overreact online,” Khary Payton, who voices the Penguin King in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and plays Ezekiel on The Walking Dead, told Insider. “I actually think that he’s doing kind of like this New York, Italian guy — like a cousin of The Sopranos or something, which, I think, is kind of a fun take on it rather than being, ‘It’s a me, a Mario.’” Two hours of the Charles Martinet Mario voice would be a lot, but now I’m bummed that Michael Imperioli didn’t get the role. There’s still time.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which also stars which also stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser (excellent casting), Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, opens on April 7, 2023.