The Internet (Including Chris Pratt) Reacts to Chris Pratt Being Cast as Mario

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Adele Ankers

Chris Pratt is voicing Mario in the new Super Mario Bros. animated film and the internet has a lot of opinions about it. Even Chris Pratt himself has weighed in.

Soon after it was announced that Pratt had been cast as Mario, it became apparent that the red-clad, mustachioed plumber had his work cut out for him as the internet became flooded with reactions, memes, and jokes over the seemingly controversial casting choice. Some supported the decision whilst others sighed a subdued "mamma mia" in response to the news.

A few people reflected on Pratt's previous acting roles and struggled to envision how the actor was going to embody the famous fictional plumber to deliver the character's signature Italian accent. Pratt, however, assured fans on Instagram that he's "working hard" at getting Mario's voice right because the role is a "dream come true" for him. However, he makes clear that "You’ll have to wait to hear the voice."

During the casting announcement, you could say that the internet was doing what the internet does best, as Twitter users turned out various memes, jokes, and videos that would have people Luigi-hee-hee'ing for days:

Of course, the responses were not solely limited to Pratt being cast as Mario:

A lot of people were astounded by the fact that Charles Martinet, aka the person who has voiced Mario and several other related video game characters since the 90s, was featured in the star-studded lineup but had been assigned to a series of surprise cameos in the movie rather than the beloved characters he is famously associated with.

Outside of Pratt and Martinet, the rest of the film's voice cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. Additionally, Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Kamek, Fred Armisen will voice Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco will voice Foreman Spike.

Casting director Kevin T. Porter seemingly responded to the reactions coming out of the trending hashtags, as he shared a tweet in the aftermath of the announcement going viral. "Hey it's me, the casting director of the new Mario movie," he wrote. "I'm really proud of the choices we made with the whole team and we're beyond excited to tell this story!"

For a recap of everything that was announced at Nintendo Direct on Thursday, check out our complete rundown here. For more about Illumination's Super Mario Bros. movie read about how the upcoming film, due out December 2022, will incorporate Maniscalco's Foreman Spike, a character from the NES and arcade game Wrecking Crew.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

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