The new Super Mario Bros. trailer is a peach

Today, Nintendo gave fans a second look at The Super Mario Bros. Movie with a new trailer, giving us another opportunity to hear Chris Pratt as the preeminent pixelated plumber. We also got the first official glimpse of Donkey Kong and Princess Peach and heard Anya Taylor-Joy’s rendition of the Mushroom Monarch.

I don’t know what it is about her face, but she seems firmly in some kind of Mushroom Kingdom uncanny valley. I know I’m looking at Princess Peach, but that is not Princess Peach. Voice by Anya Taylor-Joy, I hope this princess retains her somewhat conflicting personality of being a dainty damsel who can also beat your ass with a radish if need be and isn’t turned into some kind of gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss stereotype.

One of the leaked posters features Mario over what appears to be a map of New York City with the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood featured prominently, shouting out Mario’s canonical hometown — which explains the slight “eh I’m walkin’ here” twang in Pratt’s voice. Another poster, shared by the official movie account, revealed a beautiful interior shot of Princess Peach’s castle, which looks like her castle in Super Mario 64 was given good ol’ Unreal Engine 5 / ray-traced spit shine.

The vibes of the movie have, so far, been stellar. The environments and characters — Peach notwithstanding — look incredible. And I gotta say, this second trailer is doing a whole lot more for the movie than the first one. I’m actually a bit hyped. The Super Mario Bros. Movie releases in the US on April 7th, 2023.