The first Super Mario Bros. animated movie pulled references from across Mario lore, and while The Super Mario Galaxy Movie wears its main inspiration in its title, the sequel will be no different. Even in the initial trailer for the upcoming movie, there were already several hints and nods to different Super Mario titles from the franchise’s 40 years of history.
This trailer gave us our first looks at Brie Larson’s Princess Rosalina and Benny Safdie’s Bowser Jr. But let’s look at some of the smaller details in this first look at The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which hits in theaters on April 3, 2026.
Bowser paints Mario’s Skeleton Suit
The first half of the trailer focuses on Bowser’s surprising artistic ability, as he paints several pieces while confined to a tiny version of himself in a miniature of his castle. His latest work is an unflattering depiction of Mario as a skeleton, which bears a striking resemblance to Mario’s Skeleton Suit in Super Mario Odyssey.
That suit was one of the hardest outfits to obtain in Odyssey, costing 9999 coins.
Bowser’s other paintings
That isn’t all when it comes to Bowser’s paintings–as he runs up the stairs of his mini castle, you can also spot some additional pieces, with one depicting smiling flowers from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and another with Bowser on his famous Koopa Klown Car. It looks like there’s a painting of a Boo on the bottom left as well.
With all of this artistic talent, we can’t rule out the possibility that Bowser made all of the paintings in his castle himself for Super Mario 64. Although, all credit for the “hot Bowser” painting seen in the trailer should go to Illumination artist Renan Porto.
The Star Festival
While we don’t know yet what the inciting incident for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is, the trailer shows an event that resembles the Star Festival that kicks off the stories of Super Mario Galaxy and its direct sequel. The Star Festival occurs once a century, with a comet passing through the night sky and dropping Star Bits.
The trailer shows several falling lights released by the comet, but it’s unclear as of now if these are Star Bits.
Launch Stars
The most common method of traversal in the Super Mario Galaxy games was through Launch Stars, and they make a notable appearance in the movie’s trailer. While they have an ethereal glow in the movie that isn’t present in the games, they appear to have the same function, launching Peach and Toad through the stars.
Drip Drop Galaxy
Levels in Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel were full of planetoids, and the first planetoid we see in the movie trailer is an aquatic one that resembles Drip Drop Galaxy from the first Galaxy game.
The movie version features more foliage than what we saw in the game, and it appears to be populated by Bloopers instead of Cheep Cheeps, so this location might be more inspired by Drip Drop Galaxy than a direct reference.
The Inverted Pyramid from Super Mario Odyssey
Mario and Luigi appear to be riding dirtbikes (as seen in the Mario Kart games) through a desert, and one shot of the trailer shows them driving towards a giant inverted pyramid. This greatly resembles the Inverted Pyramid in the Sand Kingdom of Super Mario Odyssey, though this one is slightly askew.
Other pyramids are seen floating in the sky, so it’s possible that the pyramid that Mario and Luigi are going toward had crashed down–sounds like a fun location for the characters to explore.
Ninjis in a casino
Peach, in action movie fashion, fights an army of Ninjis in one scene in the trailer. Ninjis first showed up in Super Mario Bros. 2 (or Doki Doki Panic, technically), and they recently reappeared in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, most prominently in the Ninji Jump Party level.
The battle appears to take place on top of a giant roulette, so this locale might have inspirations from a number of places in the Super Mario series, including Casino Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine or perhaps even Luigi’s casino in the Super Mario 64 DS minigames.
Bowser Jr., his magic paintbrush, and Wonder effects
Bowser Jr. is making his big screen debut, and he’s making use of the magic paintbrush he wreaked havoc with in the GameCube classic. One notable detail is that the paintbrush lacks Professor E. Gadd’s logo, meaning that the paintbrush might have a different origin in the movie universe.
And instead of taking the form of Shadow Mario like he did in Sunshine, Bowser Jr. instead resembles how he did in Super Mario Bros. Wonder when under the effects of a Wonder Flower, sporting a darker color scheme.
Megaleg
The Megaleg boss from the first Mario Galaxy game shows up at the end of the trailer, attempting to capture Princess Rosalina before she goes all Super Smash Bros. on it, demolishing the giant mech with ease. Megaleg was one of the first major bosses in the first Galaxy game, and he’s relatively easy to dispatch.
The main difference in the movie is that Megaleg is a voiced character, or perhaps another character is piloting Megaleg, though it’s unknown exactly who the voice performer behind this imposing enemy is.
Gusty Garden Galaxy music
After Rosalina destroys Megaleg using her magical powers, the trailer ends with part of the Gusty Garden Galaxy theme, one of the most iconic music tracks in the first Galaxy game.
Composer Brian Tyler is returning to score The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, so we should expect the soundtrack to contain several leitmotifs and musical references to the two Super Mario Galaxy games, and likely from the larger Mario franchise.
