Rumors have been circulating that Chris Pratt could be taking over the voice of Super Mario on a permanent basis after voice actor Charles Martinet announced his retirement.
Nintendo of America announced Monday that the 67-year-old actor, who has portrayed animated plumber brothers Mario and Luigi in the video game series since 1991, will be “retiring.”
In response, some fans asked if Chris Pratt — who spoke about the controversy surrounding his casting as Mario in the 2023 franchise The Super Mario Bros. Movie — would take on the job.
It’s currently unknown who exactly will replace Martinet, but the statement revealed a special video message from the Super Mario creator and Martinet himself would come at a later date.
End of an era: Rumors have been circulating that Chris Pratt (left) could be taking over the voice of Super Mario permanently after voice actor Charles Martinet (right) announced his retirement
Beloved cartoon character: In response, some fans asked if Chris Pratt — who spoke about the controversy surrounding his casting as Mario in the 2023 franchise The Super Mario Bros. Movie — would take on the job
“We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look,” the tweet read.
The explanation began: “Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, going back to Super Mario 64.”
“Charles now takes on the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador,” it continues. “With this transition, he will refrain from recording character voices for our games.”
One bittersweet piece of news, however, was the statement that he would continue to work with Nintendo and in the world of Mario.
It continued, “But he will continue to travel the world, sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with all of you.”
“It has been an honor to help bring Mario to life with Charles for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him,” the press release reads.
In the end, they announced an upcoming message from Martinet and the Japanese video game designer who created the best-selling video game for Nintendo.
“Please look out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself,” the statement ended.
Official Statement: It’s currently unknown who exactly will replace Martinet, but the statement revealed a special video message from the Super Mario creator and Martinet himself would come at a later date.
Fan Response: Several social media users also reacted to the news by speculating as to whether or not Chris Pratt would be hired as Mario’s permanent voice
Replaced by Pratt? Martinet had a cameo appearance in the star-studded animated film, in which Pratt played the popular animated plumber. The choice of cast triggered controversial reactions at the time
Shortly thereafter, Martinet himself shared the statement of his official account and wrote a short but kind message to his fans: ‘My new adventure begins!’ You are all Numba One in my heart!’
Upon learning of his retirement, many fans took to Twitter to thank the voice actor for his work and influence.
Martinet has voiced Mario and incorporated several of his iconic catchphrases in nearly 150 Nintendo titles since 1991.
He also voiced Mario’s sidekick and brother Luigi, as well as the duo’s arch-rivals Wario and Waluigi.
Most recently, he had a cameo in the star-studded animated film starring Pratt as Mario – as well as Anya-Taylor Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser.
The choice of cast triggered controversial reactions at the time. However, many fans felt that Pratt did such a good job that he would be a good candidate to land the role permanently.
Several social media users also responded to the news by speculating as to whether or not Pratt would be hired as Mario’s voice actor on a permanent basis from now on.
Next Mario: Some fans have even made memes about how they think Pratt must be feeling given the potential opportunity on the horizon
Bittersweet: Martinet is known as a longtime voice actor and some fans seemed to express how disappointed they would be if he was replaced by Pratt
Open Opportunity: Many fans think it’s likely that Pratt will be hired as the next voice actor for the next Nintendo Switch game
“I name it,” wrote one Twitter user. “Chris Pratt will be the new Mario Lmao.”
“Hopefully they replace him with Chris Pratt,” another person wrote.
Some fans even made memes about how they think Pratt must be feeling given the potential opportunity on the horizon.
“It would be funny if they just decided to make Chris Pratt the permanent voice of Mario,” wrote another Twitter user in response to the news.
Pratt previously recalled struggling to find the voice for Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
His first attempt at an accent was rejected because it too closely resembled James Gandolfini’s accent for Tony Soprano on the HBO crime series The Sopranos
In a Zoom chat with co-stars Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Keegan-Michael Key and Jack Black for Entertainment Weekly, Pratt explained that he had very few pointers to further develop the character.
“Are you Italian? Are you American? We know a little bit about Charles Martinet’s voice, which he accompanied with the “Wahoo!” and “It’s a me!” and that Mario thing, but how do you frame a 90-minute narrative with an emotional core and create a living, breathing persona that you care about?” explained the action star.
“If you take away the jokes, the magic, the mushrooms, the power-ups, the colors and the great music, it should be a pretty good drama that’s really the key to a great story.”
When Chris first approached the role, he said he sounded a little too much like a mob boss.
“When I walked in, they said for a minute, ‘This is a little bit Tony Soprano, this is a little bit New Jersey, you’re doing a Tony Soprano thing.'”
For Chris, repetition was key.
“I would have one of the lines.” “I wouldn’t just say it once,” he explained.
“After doing it over and over again, 15 different options, colloquial options, put it in my own words, in different tones, and by the end they were so exhausted after hearing them all that I was like, ‘” Well, that’s all. I’ve just exhausted every opportunity, so can we continue?”
In March, Pratt expressed that he understands that longtime fans of the Mario series are particularly interested in the character’s integrity when discussing the animosity towards his cast.
“I totally get it, man. There is a passionate fanbase and I’m one of those fans. I get it. Most of the time, people don’t want something like this to be screwed up. You attach great importance to it. You are careful. And I’m grateful for that,” he said.
The Jurassic World Dominion star then noted that when working on the feature, he did his best to faithfully represent the Nintendo character.
The actor explained, “It’s just as important to me as anyone to make sure this doesn’t get screwed up.”