Donald Glover steps into Yoshi as final Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer nears
donald glover’s name landed in the middle of a cast list that already had familiar stars, but the role was anything but ordinary: he is voicing Yoshi, Mario’s dinosaur sidekick, in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The reveal came during a Nintendo Direct presentation tied to the film’s final promotional push, a moment designed to focus attention on what the next movie is adding—and who is helping bring it to life.
donald glover and the moment Yoshi finally gets a voice
The Direct’s cast announcements centered on a character the movie is introducing: Yoshi. In that lineup, donald glover was named as Yoshi’s voice actor, placing him alongside a returning group that includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, and Jack Black as Bowser. The new film also brings in Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. and Brie Larson as Rosalina, expanding the cast around the core characters audiences already know.
The Direct itself opened with the film’s main voice cast members—Pratt, Day, and Anya Taylor-Joy—appearing to wish viewers a happy “Mario Day, ” which is observed on March 10. That framing made the event feel like a handoff from one celebration to the next: a day associated with the franchise, and a movie promotion built to meet that moment.
Yoshi’s casting was part of a broader set of reveals. Wart, the villain from Super Mario Bros. 2 (the US version), is set to appear, and the Direct named Luis Guzman as Wart’s voice actor. Issa Rae was also revealed as the Honey Queen. Still, donald glover’s addition stood out because it anchored the introduction of a character the film is highlighting as new.
March 9 at 5: 00 pm ET: Nintendo Direct builds toward April 1
Nintendo set the final trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie to air on Monday, March 9, as part of a special Direct presentation beginning at 5: 00 pm ET. The timing matters because it is explicitly positioned as the “final trailer, ” arriving ahead of the movie’s April 1 premiere.
That last look at the film was paired with other elements meant to keep the movie concrete and visible: Nintendo revealed a new poster showing the main cast and newcomers, including Birdo and Wart. The Direct also included the release of the latest trailer and what were described as big cast announcements.
Details from the trailer sequence described during the presentation point to the film’s creative direction. The trailer opened with a sequence overtly inspired by the Mario Galaxy games, and it shows Peach’s castle being lifted into space by Bowser Jr. Even without further plot explanation, that image signals the scale the movie is aiming for and places Bowser Jr. at the center of the action early in the footage.
For fans who have been following the marketing closely, the studio has already issued multiple previews: the first and second trailers are available, and the Direct’s trailer is positioned as the third and final one. The cadence is clear—one more coordinated push, then the theatrical release.
Shigeru Miyamoto, a 40th anniversary, and tickets now on sale
Near the end of the Direct, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto appeared and thanked fans of the franchise, calling the upcoming movie the “centerpiece” of the franchise’s 40th anniversary. He also said that numerous “nostalgic characters” show up in the film, a statement that fits with the inclusion of names like Wart and the mention of characters such as Birdo.
The film arrives with expectations shaped by the last big theatrical outing. The context is simple and numerical: 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie earned $1. 36 billion globally and finished as the year’s No. 2 film, behind Barbie. That prior success frames why each new casting announcement and each trailer release carries extra weight: the next movie is not starting from scratch.
Practical steps for audiences also moved forward. Tickets for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are now on sale, and the Direct offered a closer look at a Yoshi-themed popcorn bucket tied to the film. The marketing, in other words, is not only on screens; it is also appearing in the parts of the theater experience that turn a character into a takeaway item.
Behind the scenes, the directing and writing team returns from the first movie: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are directing, and Matthew Fogel wrote the new film. Around the movie slate more broadly, Nintendo also has a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie in the works with Sony Pictures set for release in 2027, with the possibility of more movies to follow as part of a plan to keep releases coming steadily.
For now, the immediate timeline is fixed: the final trailer arrives March 9 at 5: 00 pm ET, and the film’s release date is April 1. In that span, donald glover’s role as Yoshi sits as a simple, defining piece of the story—one name attached to one character, placed at the center of the movie’s final stretch before audiences see what that new voice sounds like on screen.
