Super Smash Bros. Movie Reportedly Being Pitched by Illumination

The box office success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie has resulted in a lot of speculation about what will come next from Nintendo's partnership with Illumination. There's been no word on a sequel just yet, but it appears Illumination might be thinking much bigger than a second Mario movie. According to a report from reliable leaker Daniel Richtman (also known as @DanielRPK), Illumination is preparing a pitch for a shared cinematic universe that would culminate in a Super Smash Bros. movie. The movie would be built up by various spin-off films, in a manner similar to Marvel's Avengers. 

Which Smash Bros. Would Make the Cut?

There are several obvious challenges that would surround a Super Smash Bros. film. The biggest of these is the number of playable characters that have appeared in the series; the original Super Smash Bros. had just 12 playable fighters, but that number has since ballooned to 89. Of those characters, the vast majority are owned by Nintendo, but there are some notable exclusions, including Solid Snake, Mega Man, and Sora. There are also characters co-owned by Nintendo, including favorites like Kirby and Pikachu, which could present some hurdles. Last but not least, Nintendo is also making a live-action Zelda movie with Sony, so characters like Link and Ganondorf could be off-limits. 

Perhaps one of the most interesting possibilities would be an appearance by Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sega owned character was long positioned as Mario's rival, and a big screen brawl between the two would be a huge draw. In an interview with ComicBook.com last year, Sonic the Hedgehog movie director Jeff Fowler was asked about his interest in making a movie based on Super Smash Bros. While Fowler seemed skeptical about the legal issues, he did note that "everyone would be kinda dying" to see "Mario and Sonic in the ring."

What Characters Does Nintendo Own?

Assuming that all of the franchises listed above would be unavailable, that would still leave a significant number of characters left. In fact, The Super Mario Bros. Movie already featured a lot of playable characters from the Smash series, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Yoshi, Piranha Plant, and Bowser. Those characters could be joined by faces from franchises like Metroid, Star Fox, Xenoblade, Fire Emblem, Splatoon, Pikmin, F-Zero, and Animal Crossing. Nintendo owns all of those, and wouldn't have to worry about any legal red tape. 

Ever since the success of The Avengers back in 2012, every movie studio has been seeking the next big cinematic universe, and most of them have failed. With Super Smash Bros., Nintendo has an existing property that is already beloved by fans around the world. Bringing that game to the big screen would be a taller task than any previous video game adaptation, and there are a lot of potential hurdles in the way. However, if Illumination can pull it off, it could be even bigger than The Super Mario Bros. Movie! 

Do you think we'll see a movie based on Super Smash Bros.? Which characters do you think would appear? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: ResetEra]