Our first look at the follow-up to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is here! So, we’ve cast our beady eyes over the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer to find all of the characters, secrets, and details we could spot. Nintendo and Illumination’s sequel is out on April 3, 2026, so there’s not long to wait. In the meantime, let us know what you’ve spotted in the trailer that we might have missed, as well as some of your best theories on where the film might take us. But first up, here is everything we spotted in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer!
New Characters
Two new familiar Mario characters from the games are making their way into the movie universe for the sequel. First up, we have Princess Rosalina, who is being voiced by Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson. Rosalina is the watcher of the cosmos and someone who helps Mario out on his adventures. She was originally designed to be related to Princess Peach — an idea that never came to fruition, but does explain their similar appearances. Rosalina made her debut in 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy, so we always expected her to turn up here, and she does so with a bang, taking on what looks like one of Galaxy’s bosses, Megaleg.
Megaleg is a giant foe partly inspired by a much more common enemy, the Sniffit. An automated robot in the game, Megaleg, looks like it’s being piloted in the movie. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if the character sitting inside is Bowser Jr., as Bowser’s son is the other big new addition to the roster this time around. He will be voiced by Oppenheimer actor and Uncut Gems and The Smashing Machine director, Benny Safdie. You could’ve given me 500 guesses, and I would never have landed on that.
Bowser Jr. appears to be using some wonder abilities later on in the trailer, as his purple-armoured look is very close to how he’s presented in 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Wonder Bowser Jr looks to be on a balcony of Peach’s Castle near the end of the trailer, and is demanding his father’s freedom. He’s also holding his magic paintbrush, which was first introduced in Super Mario Sunshine. Incidentally, the sound effect that accompanies his arrival is eerily close to the one that follows Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s Prowler (another purple-armoured character) around that movie. A nice little nod or just a pure coincidence? You be the judge.
Returning Characters
Bowser has seemingly been kept in the confines of a miniature castle by Mario and Luigi ever since he shrank after eating a Mini Mushroom at the end of the first movie. Bowser can be heard humming his Mario 64 theme as he makes his way upstairs and past his piano. Peaches round two, anyone?
Mario’s arch nemesis is evidently an avid painter, too, with frames full of colour littered around his tiny palace. Not only has he been imagining a fleshless Mario (a skeleton outfit from Super Mario Odyssey), but he’s also naturally obsessed over the reunification of himself and his love, Princess Peach. In the room that the castle is housed in, if you’re eagle-eyed, you can spot a location or two from the games. There’s one that looks very much like the Yoshi Island level from the SNES’ Super Mario World. Speaking of Yoshi, we didn’t get a look at him here, but do not fear, we know he’s going to be in the movie, thanks to a leaked box of cookies courtesy of the baked goods lads over at Pillsbury.
We also get a very quick glimpse at a few more of Bowser’s portraits, including Bowser Jr. inside his Koopa Clown Car, as seen in Super Mario World and Paper Mario, among others. In fact, it may be that Paper Mario is being teased by the sheer amount of painting Bowser has been getting up to, and his relationship with the Mario Bros. He’s clearly not on the best of terms with Mario at this juncture, but is much warmer when greeting Luigi. Could this softer side be setting up a Paper Mario spin-off, sequel, or change of animation style during the movie? Bowser does occasionally team up with Mario when faced with a greater threat, after all.
Also returning are Princess Peach and Toad, who look set to be going on their own adventure separately from Mario and Luigi. Peach can be seen here flying off into the night sky with her trusty umbrella beside Toad, who is sporting his Captain Toad backpack — the absolute best version of our toadstool-headed friend, and I’ll fight anybody who dares disagree.
Locations
But where are they going? Well, we’re given a few looks at some familiar worlds from the Mario games during this trailer. It seems like Peach and Toad are headed towards a version of Super Mario Galaxy’s Beach Bowl Galaxy, with its sandy locales and palm trees clearly evident. Among its coral reefs, common Mario creatures, Bloopers, can be seen. And behind that planet, a distant ring can be seen, which kinda looks like the ring-shaped object from Galaxy’s Gusty Garden Galaxy, albeit brown instead of grey.
Later on, it looks like Peach has gotten herself into a bit of trouble in what we’re guessing is an interpretation of Super Mario 3D World’s Bowser’s Casino or King Boo’s Casino from Super Mario Sunshine. The large roulette wheel that she’s battling all of these Ninjis on would certainly suggest the odds of this are likely.
As for Mario and Luigi, it looks like they’re zooming their way toward one of the inverted pyramids from Super Mario Odyssey’s Sand Kingdom. Further evidence of this is the fact that on their motorcycles, stickers can be found relating to the town of Tostarena, which is inspired by Mexican culture. We certainly wouldn’t say no to a fun little visit here during the movie, as personally, sombrero Mario was one of my favourite looks for the little plumber in Odyssey. Earlier on, we can also see him sitting on the rooftop of what looks like Peach’s castle with the princess herself, and enjoying the Star Festival from the opening of Galaxy.
And lastly, going all the way back to Rosalina’s face-off with Megaleg, it looks like this might be taking place near the Star Observatory from Super Mario Galaxy. It would just make sense, wouldn’t it?
That’s everything we spotted in the first full trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. What do you think we missed? Will Bowser ever be a big boy again? Let us know in the comments below.
Waymo is hitting the highway — but can it handle the speed?