As the much-anticipated Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to march towards its April 7, 2023 release date, fans who have been clamoring for more footage had their patience rewarded last night with a new 30-second commercial that aired during the the NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.
The commercial takes place on a scene we’ve seen before – Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, fighting Donkey Kong in a Mushroom Kingdom arena styled similarly to the classic Donkey Kong arcade game where both characters made their first appearance. While the TV spot didn’t reveal any more details on the context of their encounter, it did showcase two exciting new details: Mario in the cat suit powerup from Super Mario 3D World, and Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong voice, which is pretty much what everyone expected it would be. Seth Rogen’s iconic laugh makes its appearance this commercial as Donkey Kong makes fun of Mario’s ridiculous appearance and Chris Pratt’s unfortunately unintimidating “meow.” Notably, Mario’s cat suit powerup is the latest Mario powerup that’s been revealed so far to be in the film, in addition to the fire flower and tanooki suit, and is the first powerup from a Mario game made in the last ten years to be shown off.
Reactions to the trailer ranged from excitement to disappointment at Seth Rogen’s lack of distinction in his performance from his regular voice: