Considering The Super Mario Bros. movie pulled in more than $200 million domestically and another $170 million internationally, a sequel to the Illumination adaptation may as well be in pre-production already. But will fans want to see Bowser in castle after castle like the video games? If not, Jack Black has an idea which character might be a good fit for the first sequel in the Mario movie universe: Wario!
Talking to GameSpot, Black (who voiced Bowser) said that while a sequel seems like a sure thing, that doesn’t mean Bowser will be the main villain. “It’s not a given that Bowser will return. You know, I did a few Kung Fu Panda movies, and it was a different villain every movie. They may do the same thing.” If that is the case, then the Mario franchise really doesn’t have too deep of a pool of recognizable and marketable baddies to pull from. Even still, Black knows not just the perfect character but who should voice him. “You know, what if there is a more powerful, more evil villain? Then I may need to be turned to help Mario and the rest to defend our universe against some other unseen force of evil. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?…Wario. Pedro Pascal is Wario.” This might a bit too against type, though, since Pascal has already played Mario in an SNL spoof of Mario Kart…
Wario–the canon rival of Mario–first appeared in the Mario franchise in 1992, eventually getting his own spinoff series and proving a staple in the Mario Kart and sports series. If Wario does turn up in the Mario sequel, the writers should consider teaming him up with Waluigi (who, of course, would be unbeatable on the Wild Wiggler), a dastardly combo that could pull out some nasty tricks for the heroes.
While The Super Mario Bros. Movie is full of easter eggs, the Wario character does seem to be missing. The most notable egg that did show up was Yoshi’s, signaling the appearance of another popular character, this one a guarantee for the sequel.
Do you think Wario would make a good villain in the Super Mario movie sequel? Do you think it’s even worthy of a sequel? Let us know below!