The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was a step down from its predecessor, but Illumination and Nintendo’s movie series could be seriously improved if the third film adds these weird characters. The Mario video game franchise is full of oddities, with the decades of sequels and spin-offs introducing all kinds of bizarre inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, two of the weirdest Mario are also two of the most requested to appear in the third Super Mario Bros. Movie.
If The Super Mario Bros. Movie was the safe adaptation of the iconic series, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the one that delves even further into the franchise’s lore. The sequel features all kinds of obscure characters and story elements, with it even making major changes to things like Rosalina and Peach’s relationship. However, these deep-cut Easter eggs and references were also what led to the film getting worse reviews than its predecessor, something that the third film has to fix.
Wario & Waluigi Need To Be In The Third Mario Movie
In order to recover, the sequel to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie really needs to introduce Wario and Waluigi. The rivals to Mario and Luigi are most often seen in spinoff series like Mario Party, Mario Kart, and Mario Tennis, where they are portrayed as greedy antiheroes who aren’t nearly as heroic as their red and green counterparts. This grosser and edgier characterization is what has made Wario and Waluigi incredibly popular in the Mario fandom, with fans constantly asking for the duo to get bigger roles in mainline Mario projects.
When Wario and Waluigi weren’t in the first Mario movie, fans had their fingers crossed that they would pop up in a sequel. Sadly, this didn’t happen. However, there are again hopes that Wario and Waluigi could appear in a third film, with the next entry being inevitable after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie‘s box office success.
Super Mario Galaxy is one of Mario’s biggest and most popular adventures, and now that it has been adapted, it will be hard for the third film to be as exciting as the second. Including Wario and Waluigi is probably the best way to generate hype for another sequel. The characters are incredibly popular, recognizable by even non-Mario fans, and allow for the film to cast big actors for two more high-profile characters.
Another exciting part of adding Wario and Waluigi is that, if they are villains, then the third Mario movie probably won’t be a direct adaptation of a video game. The first film was the stock Mario story, while the second film was marketed as a direct adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy. There aren’t games where Wario and Waluigi are direct antagonists to Mario, meaning that a third film would have to write an original story around them. This would be a great choice, as one of the biggest criticisms of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was its lack of a story.
Wario’s Inclusion Could Allow The Mario Movies To Avoid Sonic’s Biggest Problem
Comparisons between The Super Mario Bros. Movie series and the Sonic the Hedgehog movie series are inevitable, and after the second Mario movie, another one is already popping up. The Robotniks have been the villains in all three Sonic the Hedgehog movies, and since it looks like the fourth movie will continue this trend, some fans are annoyed. There are all kinds of beloved villains in the Sonic universe, so repeating Robotnik over and over again feels like wasted potential.
The Mario franchise has even more villains, meaning that the movie series needs to avoid relying on Bowser’s Army in every movie. Bowser was the villain of the first film, and Bowser Jr. and Bowser were the villains of the sequel. For the third film, the Mario movies need to move away from Bowser. After all, Bowser acts as a protagonist in tons of stories, such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Super Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, and more.
Wario and Waluigi are the perfect replacements for Bowser and Bowser Jr. in a sequel, so they can help fix this issue. They would be a different type of antagonist than the Koopas, as they would probably be operating inside the Mushroom Kingdom rather than as an evil outside force. While villains like Fawful, Count Blek, the Broodals, and others could make great antagonists, Wario and Waluigi are the best choice for The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3.
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