Yay, my favorite Smash character is in the movie
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is literally the ultimate video game crossover that exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the movie side of things are apparently looking to broaden their horizons too.
With the theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming next week, Illumination Entertainment took fans by surprise today by revealing a new, non-Mario Nintendo character is apparently part of the cast, which is starting to make this feel almost more like the beginning of a Super Smash Bros. film.
Obviously, there’s going to be some spoilers ahead for the new movie though it’s already all over the internet with the company announcing it themselves on social media.
It is curious, however, why Illumination and Nintendo would spoil this before the second film is even out instead of surprising fans at the theater — but perhaps that means there’s more in store too.
So yeah, apparently Fox McCloud is in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie as we can see in the new poster along with his Arwing.
This marks the first main Nintendo character not directly connected to the Mario franchise to appear in the films besides the Pikmin, who were also recently teased, unless you want to give Cranky Kong that honor via technicality.
Let’s rock and roll! Fox McCloud joins The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, only in theaters April 1. Get tickets now. pic.twitter.com/13pRQ2yEah
— The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (@supermariomovie) March 26, 2026
They haven’t revealed who is voicing the Star Fox star here, but his inclusion opens the door to a ton of other possibilities for this movie and the future.
With the setting moving at least in part to space, adding Fox and the Pikmin to the picture isn’t totally nonsensical though does that mean we’re going to see Samus Aran fly in too from her Metroid adventures.
Is Kirby going to help Mario take out a celestial deity?
If they’re already teasing Fox before it’s out, who’s to say what is actually going to be in the movie at this point.
While clearly we’re not expecting to see the Mario Galaxy movie suddenly turn into Smash Bros. entirely, this could have some big implications in the future.
Illumination did reportedly pitch a Super Smash Bros. movie to Nintendo after the massive success of the first Mario film, so maybe Fox is the first clear step in that direction.
Sonic the Hedgehog’s voice actor from the movies, Ben Schwartz, also previously shared his hopes of making a Smash Bros. film too.
There is some irony in people online referring to Fox as a Smash character specifically, but that’s not all that surprising considering the last main Star Fox game came out a decade ago on the Wii U.
“You’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.” pic.twitter.com/7BOD7tl1XO
— Stephen Patton (@StephenAPatton) March 26, 2026
Fans are now wondering / joking about Fox showing up to recruit the Mario gang for something bigger like Nick Fury for the Avengers.
With Nintendo also producing a Legend of Zelda film right now, it wouldn’t be that surprising at this point to see the company want to create their own cinematic universe, and if anyone in the gaming space could pull that off, it would be Nintendo.
Perhaps they could promote it with the next Smash game now that Masahiro Sakurai is done with Kirby Air Riders.
Should a Smash Bros. movie ever truly manifest one day, however, it may well end up limited to Nintendo-owned characters / IP.
Inserting multiple third-parties into a production adds exponentially more red tape to basically everything the more companies are involved, but hey, they already knocked it out of the ballpark on that front for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
There are a number of “new” characters showing up in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie who have already been playable in Smash as well with Yoshi (Donald Glover), Rosalina (Brie Larson), and Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) plus the Pikmin, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser from who we know right now.
It’s about to be very interesting to see how far Illumination and Nintendo go with the crossovers and references in this film next week.
And you just know they’re going to make a barrel roll joke.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is set to hit theaters on April 1, 2026.
