Given the Super Mario franchise has become a staple of pop culture over the course of the past four decades, there have been plenty of fan theories regarding the characters that have appeared in the property’s transmedia efforts. That includes quite the gnarly idea that the franchise’s iconic mushrooms are grown from the dead bodies of all the Marios that have failed to save Princess Peach throughout the years.
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ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis recently caught up with The Super Mario Bros. stars Chris Pratt and Charlie Day to ask them their thoughts on the idea. As it turns out, both of them were quite horrified at such a notion. “That makes me want to eat mushrooms even less. That’s really amazing that you found that,” Pratt said of the theory.
Day took it a step further, trying to understand how the mushrooms would grow, adding, “That makes me wonder if they’re having burials for these characters because he’s in the Earth with that mushroom growing out of his back. That’s dark, man. Don’t show that to my kid.”
You can watch part of our interview with Pratt and Day above.
“For us, it made total sense,” co-director Aaron Horvath previously told Total Film of Pratt’s Mario. “He’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our film, he’s perfect for it.” The director went on to describe the Mario bros. as “blue-collar guys… from a family of Italian immigrants” who wind up warped into the Mushroom Kingdom.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie stars Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mario, Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit) as Princess Peach, Keegan-Michael Key (The Lion King) as Toad, and Jack Black (the Jumanji films) as Bowser. The cast also features Seth Rogen (Neighbors franchise) as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen (Saturday Night Live) as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson (American Dad!, Family Guy) as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco (Green Book) as Spike.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set for release on April 5th. What other video game adaptations would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
