Nintendo’s iconic Italian plumber will sound different in the future: As Nintendo of America announced on X (formerly Twitter), American actor Charles Martinet (67) will stop speaking for the popular character Mario. He has lent his voice to the video game legend since 1996’s “Super Mario 64”. He will no longer be involved in the new game “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”, which is due to be released in October for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo told “Variety”.
As a rule, Martinet did not have to speak particularly many lines of dialogue for his most famous character. Catchphrases like “It’s-a me, Mario”, “Mamma mia” or “Wahoo!” are still iconic and an integral part of pop culture.
However, the 67-year-old Martinet will remain with the Japanese maintenance company in a different form. He’s now taking on “the brand new role of Mario ambassador.” In this role, he will “no longer record character voices for our games,” but “will continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and meeting you all,” Nintendo’s X-Post reads.
Martinet himself also commented on X. There he wrote: “My new adventure begins! In my heart you are all Numba One!” In addition to Mario himself, Martinet also lent his voice to his congenial partners Luigi, Wario and Waluigi.
It is not yet clear who will voice the most famous plumber in video game history in the future. For the animated film “The Super Mario Bros. Film” (2023), Hollywood superstar Chris Pratt (44) lent his voice to Mario in the English original. The work of the directors Aaron Horvath (43) and Michael Jelenic (46) is the most financially successful of the cinema year so far, with a box office of over 1.35 billion US dollars (equivalent to around 1.25 billion euros), and is still there before “Barbie” by director Greta Gerwig (40).
