He was Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation. Star-Lord in The Guardians of the Galaxy. And now? Now Chris Pratt will be Mario in The Super Mario Bros. …
He was Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation. Star-Lord in The Guardians of the Galaxy. And now? Now Chris Pratt will be Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Animated Film. A short, pudgy Italian plumber. The casting news was announced at today’s Nintendo Direct livestream, which is mainly focused on delivering information about Nintendo Switch games launching this summer. But the show set the internet alight with reactions to what has turned out to be slightly controversial casting. A quick rundown of the rest of the voice cast: Some… interesting choices there. Choices which left several CNET staffers baffled and eager to discuss. Here are a few of our thoughts on the eyebrow-raising castings. Mark Serrels: I think we all don’t like this right? Probably should be Italian or an Italian-American. The internet has sorta turned on Chris Pratt as well. It’s got me wondering what kind of Mario they’re going for here. Mike Sorrentino: As a New Yorker, I can’t help but feel like there are lots of New York City actors that have been overlooked in the pursuit of this role. Then again, Nintendo might be trying out a different kind of Mario? Maybe we’re getting a college-age Mario? Some kind of mix between an origin story and what we get by Super Mario 64? I’ll certainly want to hear his take on the Italian plumber out but the shock is apparent. Steph Panecasio: I find it hard not to feel like Charles Martinet absolutely got dissed for this. He’s right there! The OG voice! Chris Pratt is, in my books, an objectively poor choice for Mario regardless, but it feels all the more rough given that they had the perfect actor for it already. I also feel similarly to Mike in that Chris Pratt is definitely not the Italian plumber I was expecting — and I swear on everything I own, if he does a dodgy accent I will riot. Mark: Charlie Day is the epitome of a « that guy ».
