Chris Pratt

The voice cast list for Illumination’s upcoming Super Mario film resembles a fan-casting list, similar to what you’d find on Tumblr or Reddit.

Animated films used to (mostly) cast skilled voice actors; now, they cast celebrity A-listers in order to attract a huge audience through star power, which leads us to Chris Pratt’s surprise casting as Super Mario’s voice.

The statement appeared to catch fans off surprise, with many expressing a mix of bewilderment, sadness, and good humor.

Several Twitch streamers burst out laughing, while Twitter users quickly responded with jokes.

Some even linked to an old 4Chan post “predicting” the release of a cliche-filled Super Mario blockbuster starring out-of-place actors like Adam Sandler.

It’s difficult to imagine a video game legend like Super Mario speaking with Chris Pratt’s (who also voiced the protagonist of The Lego Movie) familiar voice, though it’s unknown if Pratt will attempt to imitate Mario’s shrill, squeaky caricature of an Italian accent from the games.

To be honest, it’s impossible to envision Mario having a conversation with anyone; the character rarely displays human emotions, instead serving as a blank canvas for the user to paint their own feelings onto. And, given how poorly the initial film adaptation of Super Mario Bros. (1993) fared, Nintendo’s willingness to give Hollywood another chance is somewhat surprising.

While some fans were sad that Charles Martinet, Mario’s longtime voice actor, would not be playing the protagonist, Martinet will apparently appear in the film and voice some unexpected cameos.

Pratt shared a video on Instagram about how, as a kid, he used to steal coins from a nearby wishing well in order to play the coin-operated arcade game of the original Super Mario Bros. According to Pratt, I obviously hijacked someone else’s request, so all I have to do now is wait for the karma dominoes to fall.

But, for the time being, Mario, it’s a-me. “That’s not the voice I’m referring to. You’ll have to wait to hear the voice, but we’ve been working hard on it, and I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be voicing the video game I always wanted to play as a youngster.” Wishes do come true.