Super Smash Bros. Movie: Illumination Reportedly Wants Avengers-Style Project After Mario

One of the biggest pop culture surprises of 2023 has been the explosion in popularity of video game adaptations. The most pivotal of these successes came with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," an impressive take on the popular game series that went on to score over $1 billion globally at the box office.

Now, it looks like Illumination is aiming to double down on its bet with a far-reaching plan to create a Nintendo cinematic universe. The rumored pitch comes from Daniel Richtman, aka DanielRPK, a leaker with a solid track record in the entertainment industry. Richtman claims that Illumination hopes to move forward with a series of interconnected stories that would culminate in a "Super Smash Bros."-style team-up movie.

For those who are unfamiliar with "Super Smash Bros.," the franchise has been around for nearly 25 years and features Nintendo mainstays like Link, Samus, Yoshi, and, of course, Mario, as they duke it out to take down an interdimensional foe. While this may sound a bit tough to translate to the big screen, series fans will likely have noted that "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" has already laid the groundwork for this possibility.

As viewers who watched "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" will recall, the film begins with the prospect of multiple interconnected universes. This is how Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) end up traveling from New York City to the Mushroom Kingdom in the first place. This isn't the only way that the film has opened the door for the possibility.

"The Super Mario Bros Movie" also features a fight between Mario and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) that could serve two purposes for this potential plan. First, it shows a brawl between two well-known Nintendo characters. Second, it shows how different characters from other games can be pulled into a story where they relate to one another.

Granted, Mario and Donkey Kong debuted in the same video game, but they are far more recognizable today for their franchises, "Super Mario Bros." and "Donkey Kong Country." With this in mind, the prospect of a "Super Smash Bros." movie does seem like a real possibility.

Whether the film would be framed as the heroes vs. the villains or with all of its roster members uniting against Master Hand is still up in the air, assuming the pitch bears out. Either way, it's never been a more exciting time for gamers who want to see high-quality takes on their favorite franchises.