Nintendo Already Has A Near-Perfect Super Smash Bros. Movie Story

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With the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a Super Smash Bros. movie now seems likely. Nintendo already has a great story idea they could use for a film bringing together characters from the popular fighting game series. The Super Mario Bros. Movie earned over $1.3 billion globally in 2023, proving the potential for Nintendo-based animated films.

The Mario movie brought together many familiar faces from the video games, like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Bowser, and Donkey Kong. The next film will include even more characters, adding Yoshi, Bowser Jr., and Princess Rosalina to the mix. Plus, you’ll see lots of other classic enemies and friends like Goombas and Koopas, making the animated world even more lively.

Beyond its innovative gameplay, Super Mario Galaxy brought Fox McCloud into the Mario universe, hinting at a broader, interconnected Nintendo story world. While this opens the door for a Super Smash Bros. movie, there’s already a compelling story within an existing game that would make a fantastic film.

Fox Is Building Out Nintendo’s Cinematic Universe In The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Fox McCloud first appears in a Mario game with Super Mario Galaxy, and is voiced by Glen Powell. Though he isn’t a regular character in Mario games, he’s crossed paths with Mario in the Super Smash Bros. series. Primarily, Fox is the hero of the Star Fox series – a skilled pilot who leads his team on risky adventures through space.

In the movie, Fox reveals he traveled from a different universe, arriving in Mario’s world after passing through a black hole. His appearance in the next Super Mario film, planned for 2026, hints that these movies are part of a bigger shared universe, potentially opening the door for other Nintendo characters to appear from different games.

Besides Mario, other Nintendo characters make appearances in the film, including Pikmin, R.O.B., and Mr. Game & Watch. Nintendo is also developing a live-action Legend of Zelda movie, planned for release in 2027. Just because it’s not animated doesn’t rule out the possibility of those characters appearing alongside Mario in future films.

As a huge Nintendo fan, I was so excited to see how open Super Mario Galaxy was to bringing in characters from other series! It really feels like it laid the groundwork for a dream Super Smash Bros. game, especially since we already see Mario and Fox popping up in both! I know a game with that many characters could be tricky to balance story-wise, but Nintendo pulled it off almost 20 years ago, so I have faith they could do it again!

Nintendo Could Adapt The Subspace Emissary Storyline For A Super Smash Bros. Movie

In 2008’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there’s a story mode called The Subspace Emissary. It tells the tale of Tabuu, a powerful enemy who is covering the world in a strange dimension called subspace. As darkness spreads, heroes from across the Nintendo universe team up to stop him.

The Subspace Emissary is a unique story mode packed with exciting enemies and challenging boss fights. You’ll navigate levels designed as side-scrolling platformers, taking you through iconic Nintendo worlds. Playing through the story also unlocks new characters to use in Brawl.

One of the things that makes The Subspace Emissary special is how much it feels like a movie. It’s full of exciting cutscenes with great moments between the characters. These scenes could even serve as a blueprint for a potential Smash Bros. film, showing what that movie could be like.

Tabuu is a brand new villain who feels like a real threat, bringing together Nintendo’s heroes and villains in a unique way. While the game features familiar foes like Bowser and Ganondorf, using them as the primary villains again could feel predictable. Tabuu works well for this story and has the potential to be Nintendo’s equivalent of Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Adapting Subspace Emissary Could Lead To An Even Bigger Crossover Event

The Super Mario films have featured many characters who later appeared in Super Smash Bros. These include Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Princess Peach, Princess Rosalina, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, R.O.B., Mr. Game & Watch, Pikmin (Olimar), and Daisy.

What makes Super Smash Bros. so special is its inclusion of characters from different game companies, like Sonic and Solid Snake, who both first appeared in Brawl. Because these characters played a role in The Subspace Emissary, adapting that story could create a huge crossover event, uniting various video game companies.

Following the release of Brawl, the Super Smash Bros. series continued to include characters from games developed by companies other than Nintendo. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s complete list of fighters features characters from franchises like Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Persona, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, Minecraft, and Kingdom Hearts.

A movie based on Super Smash Bros. could be an amazing way to combine characters from lots of different video games, even those not made by Nintendo. There would be legal hurdles to overcome regarding who owns the rights to each character, but it’s definitely possible, since the Smash Bros. games already bring these characters together.

Video games have a history of bringing characters from different worlds together. Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph famously featured characters like Sonic, Bowser, and Qbert, and the Super Smash Bros. series boasts over 80 playable characters. While a movie with that many characters would be challenging, the story mode from Super Smash Bros., called The Subspace Emissary*, could be a great starting point.

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2026-04-05 18:09