According to a source at Nintendo, Fox McCloud’s appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was likely a strategic business decision rather than a creative one.
The new Super Mario Galaxy Movie brings back Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black as voices, and adds new cast members Benny Safdie, Donald Glover, and Glen Powell. Notably, Powell plays Fox, a character from the 1993 game Star Fox, which, like Super Mario Bros., was created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
Fans were excited to see Mr. Fox in the film, but a former Nintendo employee believes there’s a bigger reason for his inclusion. Kit Ellis, who used to manage social media marketing at Nintendo of America, shared his theory on YouTube, calling it ‘extremely cynical.’ He suspects Illumination, the animation studio behind the film, wanted to feature more Nintendo characters and that’s why they pushed for Fox’s appearance.
According to Ellis, Illumination initially pitched an idea, but Shigeru Miyamoto wasn’t sure Nintendo would approve. Surprisingly, they did. Ellis believes Illumination is aggressively acquiring the rights to various properties, like Zelda, as a defensive measure—to ensure they control potential movie content, even if they don’t have immediate plans for it.
He pointed out that Illumination likely wants to avoid a repeat of the issues surrounding the live-action Legend of Zelda adaptation. Currently, Columbia Pictures is making that film, which means Illumination doesn’t own the rights to the popular Zelda franchise. According to Ellis, Fox was brought into the project solely to secure the rights to his own creation.
Apparently, Chris Pratt reached out to play the character of Fox before Illumination even considered him for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination, said Pratt showed a lot of enthusiasm and really wanted to work with Nintendo.
The executive went on to say that it was clear just how much Glen loved the character Fox McCloud. Glen had always dreamed of being involved in a ‘Star Fox’ movie. While Glen was enthusiastically sharing his passion, the executive knew something Glen didn’t – that they were already in discussions with Miyamoto-san about including ‘Star Fox’ in the new film.
Interestingly, Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, personally advocated for including the character Fox in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While Fox is a star in the Super Smash Bros. series, Miyamoto explained that Nintendo doesn’t usually mix characters from different games. It’s still not clear why Illumination got the rights to Star Fox, but it could potentially lead to a spin-off featuring Fox, or even the long-awaited Super Smash Bros. movie or series.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is currently in theaters.
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2026-04-12 17:17