Movies like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are critic-proof. No one really cares what critics think of a movie like this. They just want to see Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and the gang on screen, jumping around, and that’s that. Which, thankfully, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie delivers in spades. It also delivers a laundry list of cameos, large and small, one of which is saved until the very end of the credits.
If you haven’t seen The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and don’t want to be spoiled, walk away now. Otherwise, let’s continue.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has two credit scenes. The first takes place mid-credits, as we see Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr. in jail. They seem to be taking it in stride until they realize the prison guard is Lumalee, the sinister blue star we first met in the first movie. Lumalee goes off about how cruel and evil she plans to be to the Bowser boys, and they cower in fear. No real implications about the future here, just a fun callback to the previous movie.
The bigger cameo comes at the very end of the credits. We’re back in the Gateway Galaxy, and we see the mischievous monkey Ukiki still stealing from people. But he messes with the wrong bag and gets a huge fist to the face. The camera flips to reveal a new princess in yellow. Someone who a general audience might not recognize, but Mario and Nintendo fans definitely do.
The big cameo in that post-credit scene is Princess Daisy, one of the most enduring supporting characters of the whole Mario franchise. First introduced in 1989 for the Game Boy launch title Super Mario Land, the Princess of Sarasaland (distinctly different and separate from the Mushroom Kingdom over which Peach rules) and occasional love interest of Mario’s brother Luigi, Daisy has rarely had the spotlight, and unlike her fellow princess, Peach, has never led her own standalone game—but she’s become a beloved icon regardless thanks to her regular appearances as a playable character in various spinoff titles. She’s always down for tennis, kart racing, party games, the occasional beat ’em up brawl, and more.
And that’s it. Anyone hoping for some larger teasers for a Super Smash Bros. movie will be disappointed. There is a smaller tease of this, though. The introduction of Fox McCloud and the subsequent reveal that he hails from an alternate universe ever so slightly open the door to not just the Star Fox gang but any number of other Nintendo cameos in the future. Oh, and we get Pikmin, too. But, in terms of the Super Mario films, we get Daisy, and we’ll see how her introduction plays out in the inevitable third film.
What did you think of the end credits in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?
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