The Super Mario Bros. Movie Teases a Luigi Film With Classic Villains (2025)

The following contains spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, now playing in theaters.

Part of the fun of The Super Mario Bros. Movie is seeing all the little seeds it plants for future expansion across a potential cinematic Nintendo universe. References to Punch-Out!, reinventions of Mario Kart, and a full showcase of Donkey Kong's breakout potential. But one of the best sequences of the film could set up a very specific direction for one of the titular brothers.

Luigi's sequence alone in Bowser's kingdom in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a great little moment, proving goofy concepts like Dry Bones and Shy Guys can still be effective scares. A film focusing entirely on that interplay -- like an adaptation of Luigi's Mansion -- could take that concept to another level. Coupled with a cameo by King Boo, an adaptation of the Luigi-centric game series could be a great spin-off for Mario and Luigi's cinematic adventures.

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How The Super Mario Bros. Movie Reflects Luigi's History With Horror

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Teases a Luigi Film With Classic Villains (1)

In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Luigi initially finds himself separated from Mario and in the dark lands controlled by Bowser. Walking through a burnt-out and dead forest, Luigi finds himself on the run from a pack of Dry Bones, who shakily reassemble whenever they are splintered apart. Barely escaping them and racing across stones in a lava moat, Luigi is barely able to get inside a decimated and seemingly abandoned castle -- barring the doors against the Dry Bones. But even as Luigi tries to catch his breath, a lighting jump-scare reveals the Shy Guys in the castle, silently waiting to jump Luigi and capture him for Bowser.

The entire sequence is surprisingly played for keeps, with some genuine scary imagery in a film that otherwise largely relies on bright colors and cartoonish slapstick. The Dry Bones and Shy Guys are typically played for laughs as much as any other Super Mario Bros. villain. But these Shy Guys are silent and stealthy, catching Luigi by surprise and immediately taking him to Bowser. Their few speaking lines come across as more unsettling in tone than most characters in the film. The Dry Bones are even worse, shifting around and silently clawing at Luigi as they chase him through the trees. It's a good showcase that the same world containing the Mushroom Kingdom can be played for frights -- and a strong proof of concept for a potential Luigi-centric follow-up.

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Could Be Setting Up Luigi's Mansion

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Teases a Luigi Film With Classic Villains (2)

The first entry in the Luigi's Mansion series was one of the first titles released for the Nintendo Gamecube in 2001. The game focuses primarily on Luigi, who's won a contest he can't recall ever entering. Awarded a mansion, Luigi arrives after his brother -- meaning, unlike Mario, he's not captured by the ghastly King Boo. With the help of the inventor E. Gadd, Luigi is outfitted with tech to combat ghosts and must search the mansion for his brother. The light horror tone of the game -- as well as its two subsequent sequels and eventual Nintendo 3DS remaster -- is very in line with the way horror is treated in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, quietly effective and especially so when contrasted against a goofy, cowardly, but determined character like Luigi.

Luigi's sequence in Bowser's kingdom in The Super Mario Bros. Movie serves as solid proof that a Luigi's Mansion movie could be fun and fit in with the otherwise goofy defining aesthetic of the universe. The Super Mario Bros. Movie might have even teased such a direction with a sneaky cameo by King Boo during Bowser's attempted wedding to a defiant and capable Princess Peach. Shifting the focus onto Luigi could allow the filmmakers to play with that interplay between horror and comedy and give the character (who spent much of The Super Mario Bros. Movie sidelined) a chance to shine. It's also a means of expanding the franchise while keeping one of its central relationships -- the sibling bond between Mario and Luigi -- central to the narrative. While The Super Mario Bros. Movie sets up a lot of potential future directions for the series, a Luigi's Mansion adaptation might make the most sense.

To see how it sets up a Luigi spin-off, The Super Mario Bros. Movies is now in theaters.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Teases a Luigi Film With Classic Villains (2025)
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