Last updated on April 15, 2026
If you know anything about me, it is that I have been a nearly lifelong fan of the Super Mario Bros. franchise. From the early days of playing Donkey Kong on our family’s ColecoVision to spending countless hours of my childhood playing Super Mario Bros. games on the Nintendo and Super Nintendo to the point where I can probably remember every single hidden secret in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World bvecause I practically memorized the maps and secrets from the official players guides, it is safe to say Mario has always been a part of my life.
Growing up, I got my Super Mario Bros. movie in the 1990s, but I always felt the IP deserved better. And it got its second chance on the big screen with The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023 wiht a stunning animated adaptation, courtesy of Universal and Illumination. It was one of my most anticipated movies of 2023 and I am not afraid to say I came away extremely delighted wiht what I saw. And I wanted more.
And we are getting it.
The second movie in the animated franchise is on the way with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in April 2026. This week, we got our first official glimpse of the sequel, which seemingly picks up right after the first movie ends. The first trailer for the new movie was released this week by Nintendo and Universal, and it looks stunning.
Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite 3D Mario game, so I was obviously happy to see that title be used for the sequel, as I feel like it can draw on a lot of aspects of the game (and Super Mario Galaxy 2) to continue to grow the storytelling. I honestly don’t think the title of the movie really means anything, but using the Galaxy name does command some obvious requirements for the movie, and they seem to be covered.
At this point, I’ll put in the obligatory spoiler warning in case you have not watched the trailer and wish to be surprised, although I will not be discussing anything not seen in this trailer.
Two classic characters join the story
It looks like everyone is back for more from the first movie, which was to be expected, with the notable exception of Donkey Kong and the rest of the Kong family. As of now, there is no confirmation that Donkey Kong, voiced by Seth Rogan, will be making a return appearance. I would be OK with that since other characters are being introduced, but I am also not at all ready to eliminate the possibility of a DK sighting, even if it is just a brief cameo.
The new characters we do see are Bowser Jr., voiced by Benny Safdie, and Rosalina, voiced by Brie Larson. The plot seems to focus on Bowser Jr. avenging his father and rescuing him from his miniature state, which is how the first movie ended. That part of the plot felt pretty obvious and serves as the perfect plot for a sequel.
If there is a minor gripe I have with this trailer, it is the eyes of Bowser Jr. Granted, this is far from an ugly Sonic situation going on here, but the eyes will take a short amount of time to get over for me. It is a very small issue I have, though, so this will certainly not ruin the experience for me.
What I don’t know is how Rosalia will be brought into the plot. She has been more of a guide who advises Mario in the games rather than an actual protagonist. But this will likely be different, given her showcase at the end of this trailer. Her relationship to Princess Peach has long been speculated due to their similar looks. But canonically, there are no ties between Rosalina and Peach. We’ll see if the movie changes any of that, given how closely Nintendo has worked on this movie with Illumination.
Where is Yoshi?
What we have yet to see is an appearance by Yoshi, despite the end credits tease at the end of the first movie. We know the lovable dinosaur friend of Mario and Luigi will appear at some point, and odds are he will show up in another trailer before the movie is released. His appearance has already popped up on some cookie packaging that ties into the movie.
I caught a few fun Easter eggs in this trailer, and I think another character was teased. But I’ll try breaking that down a little bit more next time.
Now seems as good a time as any to replay through Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2.