Since The Super Mario Bros. Movie just had a record-breaking weekend at the box office, it’s a foregone conclusion that Universal Pictures is going to want a sequel. Since Bowser was the main villain in the first movie, star Jack Black knows exactly who should be the villain in the sequel. He even wants Pedro Pascal to voice the character.
“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,” Black told Game Spot last week. When the outlet suggested that Bowser could still be involved as a villain-turned-hero, Black came up with a great story pitch.
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“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?” Black said. “Wario. Pedro Pascal is Wario.”
Black and Pascal recently worked together in the latest episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Black played Captain Bombardier in “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire.” His character was an Imperial officer who joined the New Republic’s Amnesty Program and helped rebuild Plazir-15. He fell in love with the Duchess, played by pop star Lizzo. They asked Din Djarin (Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) to investigate a problem with defective droids.
As for Wario, he was introduced in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) and has been an important member of Mario’s stable of characters. He is the evil version of Mario and led his own video game franchise, beginning with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994). Wario is even paired with the evil version of Luigi, named Waluigi.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie overcame middling reviews from critics to become a smash hit over the weekend. It has grossed an estimated $204.5 million since opening in theaters on Wednesday, according to Comscore. It earned an additional $172.8 million outside North America, bringing its worldwide total to $377.5 million. Super Mario broke the all-time record for the biggest opening weekend for an animated film, previously set by Disney’s Frozen 2.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. Chris Pratt voiced Mario, while Charlie Day voiced Luigi. Anya Taylor-Joy was the voice of Princess Peach, and Black voiced Bowser. Universal’s Illumination produced the film with Nintendo.
