The Latest Nintendo Direct Finally Revealed Yoshi’s Surprising Voice Actor
Happy Mar10 Day! (sorta)
Nintendo celebrated Mar10 Day early this year by releasing a Nintendo Direct on March 9. It’s not really clear why the company chose not to save the announcement for the 10th, but the Direct was exciting enough to make up for the confusion.
That’s because, alongside a new trailer (which you can watch below), we also got new casting announcements for a few more characters—including the long-anticipated Yoshi.
Watch the entire Nintendo Direct
Nintendo Directs are usually livestreams announcing new titles for Nintendo consoles, like the Switch and Switch 2. But sometimes they’re about other Nintendo products—like the horrifying talking flower from Super Mario Bros. Wonder. And ever since Nintendo partnered up with Illumination, they’ve also been about casting announcements.
If you’re serious about avoiding Nintendo Direct spoilers, you can watch the full eight-minute presentation, featuring cameos from the voice cast, below. But if you’d rather just skip to the good stuff, I don’t blame you! Read on to find out the new casting announcements.
New “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” cast members
The last cast members Nintendo revealed were Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. and Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina. Both actors appeared in this week’s Direct, and it was heartwarming to see Brie Larson talk about watching Nintendo Directs and playing Nintendo games herself.
This time around, Illumination’s CEO Chris Meledandri announced three new cast members. Let’s find out who they are together!
Wart: Luis Guzmán
You might recognize Luis Guzmán from his recent appearance as Gomez Addams in Netflix’s “Wednesday.” Come this April, you’ll be able to hear his voice as Wart, the classic Mario villain who first appeared in “Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic.” Yume Kōjō was later re-themed into a Mario game, bringing Wart into the Mario mythos.
Honey Queen: Issa Rae
In “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” Honey Queen rules over the Honeyhive Galaxy, which is the bee-themed location from the first “Super Mario Galaxy” game. She’ll be voiced by Issa Rae, the comedian who created and starred in the HBO comedy series “Insecure” in 2016. But kids will probably be familiar with her as President Barbie or Spider-Woman.
Yoshi: Donald Glover
And now for the main event. Fans have been speculating about who would eventually voice Yoshi since we first saw his egg appear in “The Super Mario Movie”‘s end credits scene. But I’m not sure that anyone could have predicted Childish Gambino himself, Donald Glover, would answer the call.
Glover actually retired the Childish Gambino persona in 2024, although part of me wonders if Yoshi will be doing some sort of musical collab with Jack Black’s Bowser. After all, the first movie’s song “Peaches” was nominated for Best Original Song at the 2024 Golden Globes, and the studio would probably love to reproduce its success. I could be off the mark, though. Donald Glover got his start in comedy—he might just do a killer Yoshi impression.
How to watch “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is coming to theaters starting April 1—and no, that’s not an April Fool’s joke. It’s the sequel to “The Super Mario Movie,” which, as of writing, is currently streaming on Peacock.
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