Fox McCloud is officially appearing in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Nintendo announces huge Star Fox crossover, a week before film release
Nintendo and Universal Pictures have announced a major crossover appearance for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, a week before the film’s release.
Announced on social media on Thursday, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s official profile revealed that Star Fox protagonist, Fox McCloud, will appear in the sequel.
“Let’s rock and roll! Fox McCloud joins The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, only in theaters April 1,” it wrote.
Fans had speculated that Fox could appear in Galaxy Movie, due to a brief segment that appeared in a previous trailer, appearing to show the character.
Reacting to the Fox Galaxy reveal on social media, original Star Fox character artist Takaya Imamura wrote: “Overwhelmed with emotion… Thank you, Miyamoto-san”.
Fox first appeared in 1993’s Star Fox (‘Star Wing’ in Europe) for the SNES, followed by sequels for N64, DS, and 3DS. The original game gained a strong following partly due to its pioneering 3D graphics chip included in the cartridge, which enabled the SNES to produce polygonal graphics.
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However, despite being one of Nintendo‘s most recognisable game franchises, there hasn’t been a new Star Fox game in ten years – the last was Star Fox Zero on Wii U, which was met with a mixed critical response.
Speaking to VGC in a 2023 interview, Imamura said he believed that Super Mario creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, was still affectionate about the Star Fox series, and said that he hoped it would return as a television series or movie.
“There are many fans who would like to see Star Fox and F-Zero films. If they make a film about them, I would love to be part of it,” he said.
Speaking in a separate interview the same year, original Star Fox programmer Dylan Cuthbert said he was sure the series would return at some point.
“Oh, I’m sure [it’ll return]”, Cuthbert said. “I mean, they keep trying, don’t they? They keep trying, not quite achieving the original.
“But I think that’s one thing – my opinion is that the original was born out of the UK Amiga-style 3D at the time, games like Star Glider or Carrier Command. It was born out of those and a bit of the Star Wars Arcade game, combined with Namco’s Starblade.
“And then there was all the Nintendo character building, all the characters and stuff, making it very family friendly.”
