Time to say goodbye to the “Yahoo!” and “Lets-a-go!” actor of your childhood. Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario since Mario Teaches Typing on CD, has put down his red cap for good and retired from voice acting the Nintendo gaming icon, as well as many other Mario series characters. His last official appearance in anything Mario-related is now The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Which, if you remember the fact he plays Mario and Luigi’s father, gives his cameo a whole new meaning.
While playing Mario and Luigi’s dad in the Illumination project was a wholesome sendoff, many were quick to wonder what this meant for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Due out on Oct. 20, it was originally assumed that Martinet would continue to voice Mario for that upcoming release. However, a Nintendo spokesperson told IGN that Martinet will not be reprising his iconic character in the game.
So, with a mustache and no voice behind it, who is taking over the reins from Charles Martinet for Super Mario Bros. Wonder? Nintendo has said that the voice actor will officially be revealed in the credits of the game when it releases. We also know that Mario has a voice actor in the game, as the trailer shown during the most recent Nintendo Direct had Mario making his usual iconic noises. Naturally, the internet is already theorizing who will wear the red hat and overalls in the voiceover booth next.
Thank god Chris Pratt is expensive
Maybe it’s for the meme, but far too many people were quick to assume Chris Pratt would assume the role from Charles Martinet. The Guardians of the Galaxy star voiced Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, so it makes sense why he would be the first to come to mind. Regardless of what people think of his performance, he is arguably just as known for voicing Mario as is Martinet.
The difference between him and Martinet though, is that Pratt is making millions per movie. Showbizgalore estimates Pratt was paid $5 million for taking on the voice of Mario in the animated film. In comparison, it’s estimated Martinet makes only $300,000 a year from his voice work as Mario. While major film actors have been voice actors in video games before, Nintendo is not a company known for “stunt casting” when it comes to their VA talent. We highly doubt they’ll fork over the cash for Pratt to take over the role full-time.
AI takes down Mario?
With AI being a big conversation during the SAG-AFTRA strike, many are worried Nintendo will turn to AI-generated voice acting using previous lines of Martinet’s. Thankfully, we can turn to Nintendo’s statement to IGN as a breath of relief on this issue. By stating that the name of the voice actor will be in the credits to Super Mario Bros. Wonder, we can safely assume a real person will be taking over the role from Martinet.
That being said, don’t be surprised if you think you hear Martinet’s voice again in future Mario properties. It’s not a secret that Nintendo has reused voice assets of Martinet’s over the years for various Mario projects. With a variety of iconic lines, it’s not hard to reuse the same “Wahoo” Martinet recorded over 20 years ago for Super Mario 64 in a newer game. That being said, any new voiceover clips would need to be done by a new voice actor.
Warles Wartinet
The reality is the next voice actor Nintendo hires for the mustachioed plumber will be someone with a really good Charles Martinet impression. Mario is arguably the most famous video game character of all time, so going too far off with Martinet’s replacement will anger an extremely large majority of the audience. Just look at how the internet reacted when Pratt was initially announced for the Illumination film.
With a whole generation or two raised on Martinet’s voice, it’s safe to say there’s a group of voice actors out there who perfected the art of saying “It’s-a me, Mario!” over and over again. Most likely that is who will be taking over Mario for future Nintendo projects. Listening to the voice clips in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, many didn’t even realize Martinet wasn’t the voice actor when the gameplay trailer dropped back in June. So hopefully the lucky person to take over the world’s most famous overalls won’t get too much hate come Oct. 20.
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