It took me a while, but once I finally saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters, I could see why people loved it. The colorful adventure that became of of the most successful 2023 new movie releases was truly a sight to see, especially when Nintendo classics like Mario Kart were brought to life in beautiful detail. However, I’m pretty shocked to learn that this scene could have been very different thanks to some details that have supposedly leaked to the internet.
YouTube channel GameXplain apparently came across some design documents that revealed the concept we saw in the finished film was revised from some initial plans. With those revisions came some pretty huge changes, like the idea of a massive Thwomp driving its own kart in the big race. However, there’s one piece of this redesign I truly missed the most upon learning of its existence.
Rather than having Princess Peach and Mario driving their own Mario Kart vehicles, there was to be a nod to Mario Kart: Double Dash in which Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Pratt’s characters shared a cart. From the sound of this concept’s intent, Mario would have been driving, while Peach would have ridden along in the back… firing a cannon at the competition.
To top it all off, a Chain Chomp would have been the final threat that the pair would have had to escape from towards the end of this race. Not only would this have been an excellent action set-piece that could have bumped The Super Mario Bros. Movie to another level, but it could have cashed in on another popular part of the movie.
Picture a heartbroken Bowser, riding in his own Mario Kart, singing another rendition of “Peaches” that sounds like something off of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell? Jack Black may have joked about his vocals, but the dude has always been known to have some rockin’ pipes. Anyone who doubts this fact, or wants to imagine what this could have sounded like, only needs to watch Black’s Hollywood Bowl performance of that viral hit to agree.
Clearly The Super Mario Bros. Movie team doesn’t need my fanboy input, as the movie became 2023’s first $1 billion hit in worldwide grosses. And don’t get me wrong, I love the Mario Kart homage as it stands in the finished movie. But from this day forward, part of me will always wonder what things would have looked like if Princess Peach was firing a cannon at a mournful Bowser singing his ballad of love.
Believe it or not, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is still showing in some theaters, with a PVOD rental also available for added convenience. Though it’s not streaming just yet, chances are this animated adventure will hit for those with a Peacock subscription when the time comes.
