New ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ teaser showcases Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Mario cat suit
Fans of the Super Mario Bros. video game franchise have been open about their curiosity over how the voice actors for the upcoming The Super Mario Bros. Movie would fare—with much buzz over how actor Chris Pratt would fare as the iconic red-capped Italian plumber when the casting was announced in 2021.
Now, the latest teaser for the movie showcases the debut of comedian Seth Rogen as the voice of another popular video game character that will appear in the movie.
Released on Jan. 30, the Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser presents Rogen’s performance in the movie as Donkey Kong. In the teaser, we see Mario in an arena, battling it out with Rogen’s Donkey Kong who beats the titular character to a pulp. While the previous trailers of the movie have shown Donkey Kong, this is the first time we hear Rogen as the iconic video game ape.
Video game fans would know that while Mario, who has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation in the 1980s, is the star of the highly successful Super Mario video game franchise, he actually first appeared as the playable character in the 1981 platform game Donkey Kong.
The teaser also shows Mario donning the cat suit powerup form from Super Mario 3D World, a 2013 video game for the console Wii U.
“You got the cat box!” Rogen’s Donkey Kong mocks Mario upon seeing him in his cat suit form. “I’m sorry. Okay. Now you die.”
Those aren’t the only goodies we see in the teaser, as we also finally see Mario punching a question box to acquire his cat suit power-up.
Fans, of course, are already discussing Rogen’s performance as Donkey Kong on social, based on the little shown in the teaser. While some commented that the voice acting is “just Seth Rogen,” others are pleasantly surprised, saying the casting is “genius” and the voice “sexy.”
In a previous interview, Rogen said he has been a fan of Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary game designer who created Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. "I remember playing Mario Bros. and thinking, 'If they ever make a movie out of this, I better be in it.' And I'm happy to say that dream came true," he added.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie also stars Jack Black as Bowser, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. It will arrive in theaters on April 7.