Final Super Mario Bros Movie Trailer Takes You On An Intense Trip Down Rainbow Road

It's been a little over five months since we first got a look at the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie and about six years since work on the title began. The collaboration between Nintendo and Illumination has looked very impressive so far, and we're finally on the cusp of the April release date. As of this writing, it is March 10th, or abbreviated, Mar. 10 in the United States, making it "Mario Day." It has become an annual tradition to celebrate the gaming icon plumber on this date, and so, Nintendo and Illumination are doing just that by dropping us the final trailer for the new film!

A special Super Mario Bros. Movie Direct was published on Nintendo's YouTube Channels that included information on the film's creation, messages from voice actors, and of course, the trailer. This new trailer and the Super Mario Direct have massive amounts of new visuals, representations of characters, and subtle hints about where Mario and Luigi will be during their adventure.

We are immediately shown Luigi in a cage hanging above a lava-filled pit in an area that is pretty easily distinguishable as a part of Bowser's castle. At this point, we see a blue Luma. That Luma is most likely Lumalee, the regularly occurring Luma that grants Mario the ability to purchase a power-up or 1-Up in Super Mario Galaxy. Lumalee seems to have a bleak outlook on the predicament of Luigi, the penguins, and themself.

The trailer moves fast, so it's hard to spot all of the characters, including enemies, that Mario may face throughout the film. Some notable enemies we've seen are, of course, the Goombas, Koopas, and even Spinys, though Bowser seems to forget they are called that. The trailer also shows several long-standing staples and well-known environments of the Mario franchise.

For example, one of the middle scenes of the trailer shows a cannon pointed roughly at a floating island in the distance. That is most likely a reference to the cannon in Super Mario 64's Bob-omb Battlefield. The environment does look similar, considering there's also a wooden ramp leading up to the top of a cliff nearby, which is almost exactly like that level. Another "level" or "world" indicated in the film is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene of the Sand Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey, complete with upside-down floating pyramid. There's even a scene showing some classic 2D platforming performed by Mario and Donkey Kong and the use of the fire-flower power-up.

The trailer comes to a head in a climactic scene in which we see Mario and friends careening down the always-challenging Rainbow Road from Mario Kart in carts against many of the Koopa King's baddies. This action-packed portion shows the destruction of karts, Mario stomping on a Koopa, and even the usage of Mario Kart items, such as Koopa shells, bullet bills, and more. This scene also shows a little about where they reach Rainbow Road, according to the film's directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, in the Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Direct is part of the Jungle Kingdom, best known from the Donkey Kong series of games.


There's a lot to unpack in this trailer and the Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Movie Direct. We have to say that, so far, we think Nintendo, Illumination, and the almost 600 people who worked on the film have done a great job in what they're putting on display, as well as the marketing, because we've managed to fall into the hype and are looking forward to the release. Along with this trailer drop, there is now the ability to pre-purchase tickets in certain markets worldwide. You can have some fun and try to "Contact" the plumbers via the SMB Plumbing website from a previous marketing push. Doing so will link you to a page where you can early-purchase your tickets to see the film on or after the April 7th, 2023 release date.