The Super Mario movie could revive a 36-year-old Nintendo character

Illumination’s upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie could reintroduce a 36-year-old character from one of the Nintendo mascot’s very first games, it’s been claimed.

That’s according to comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco, who appeared on the Bertcast podcast this weekend and claimed that he has a voice acting role in the animated movie.

“I’m in the movie Super Mario Bros., an animated movie,” he said. “I’m playing Spike, their boss.”

As pointed out by @Eponge2L, ‘Foreman Spike’ was a character in the 1985 NES and arcade game Wrecking Crew. In the game, players control Mario as Foreman Spike attempts to disrupt him by knocking down objects and causing him to fall off the playfield.

Foreman Spike later appeared in the Japan-only sequel, Wrecking Crew ’98 for Super Famicom.

If accurate, Spike’s presence in the Super Mario Bros. movie is the first hint of the film’s direction. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in January 2020 that development of the animated film was “moving along for an anticipated theatrical release around 2022”.

In May 2020 a source close to Illumination told Deadline that progress on the movie was continuing smoothly despite the COVID-19 pandemic, because remote working had already been an established practice at the studio.

Chris Meledandri, the American film producer and CEO of Illumination, was nominated as a new outside director of Nintendo in May 2021. Meledandri is currently producing the Super Mario movie alongside Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.

Furukawa recently indicated that Nintendo is exploring the possibility of creating more animation content featuring its other game series.