Nintendo and Illumination decided to casually spoil one of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s big surprises by sharing a poster of Star Fox’s own Fox McCloud as he will appear in the film when it premieres next week. This obviously raises a lot of questions about both the nature of the animated Mario movies and whether we might be working our way up to a Super Smash Bros.-style movie down the line. But the biggest question on most folks’ minds is “Why the hell did Nintendo announce this?”
If you read the comments on Kotaku’s story on the announcement, you’ll see some folks are pissed at us for “spoiling” something Nintendo and Illumination announced on very visible social media channels. But I’ll take this as people lashing out at the movie’s marketing team by proxy. I’m in Boston for PAX East this week, and have heard multiple attendees running up to each other asking if they’d heard the news, and being annoyed that this was announced to begin with. Still, the reveal isn’t entirely out of left field, as we’ve previously seen R.O.B. and the Pikmin in trailers and marketing materials, so it was already clear that the Galaxy Movie would be dabbling in crossing over with multiple series.
感無量😭😭😭
宮本さんありがとう😭😭 https://t.co/ufoqeKBmQt— 今村孝矢 / Takaya Imamura (@ima_1966) March 26, 2026
It does make me worry that the movie might feel a bit busy as it crams in nods to characters from throughout Nintendo’s catalog, but the first one was already a reference-ridden nostalgia fest, so I guess they’re just stepping on the gas for the sequel. I don’t really expect great animated filmmaking from the same studio responsible for the Minions, but I am kind of bummed that Nintendo seems content to make its big-screen projects essentially 90-minute museum tours of its long history. For now, the Internet feels a bit disoriented by the announcement, both because of its content and for the fact that it was announced before the movie’s release at all. But as the internet does, it’s at least sorting through its feelings with a sense of humor.
Lol https://t.co/evkmr8RCyy
— Bug (@bugged843) March 26, 2026
Imagine they’re announcing Fox McCloud early bc Kirby is the real surprise https://t.co/9DmZFm3gIG
— Hernandy D. Morales (@hernandy_s) March 26, 2026
Freddie Gibbs has been cast as Fox McCloud in ‘THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE’
(Source: https://t.co/lfMDQtraRy) pic.twitter.com/yd7pbj4ick
— DiscussingFish (@DiscussingFish) March 26, 2026
At this point I actually feel kind of bad for the Galaxy purists who just wanted to see Rosalina, her storybook and some Lumas https://t.co/rkSZP0VCkO
— Kit Ellis (@kitosan) March 26, 2026
40 year old men going out of their way to laugh harder than anyone else in the theater when the “Do a barrel roll” joke drops https://t.co/HpsvmXz1bJ
— Blake ™ (@NeilNevins) March 26, 2026
미국애니제작사들의 섹시여우대결 pic.twitter.com/bXpVJn6dTz
— 쓰레기게임 (@SsuregiGame) March 26, 2026
I’m hyped as hell for the movie but Star Fox should’ve absolutely been a surprise. I understand the marketing team’s job is to get asses in seats but here’s to hoping they’re saving some stuff.
— Choctopus 🐙 (@ChoctopusYT) March 26, 2026
This would’ve blown my mind had it not been revealed in a poster.
Like I’m kind of annoyed I’ve been robbed of that moment now. This feels like something they should’ve kept secret https://t.co/TCQTigQpBs
— LonelyGoomba (@LonelyGoomba) March 26, 2026
oh I’m so sorry super smash bros cinematic universe conspiracy theorists you might have had a vision all along https://t.co/075qtcxrwZ
— Naff | Commissions CLOSED ⭐ (@BlueDeKrass) March 26, 2026
I’m not posting it but the galaxy movie account stupid as hell for not keeping that a surprise what the fuck lmfao
— SaltySealz (@Salty_Sealz) March 26, 2026
“Oh yeah, let me just open up instagram real quick, there’s no way the official mario movie account will spoil a major surprise character THIS close to the movie’s release”…
Goddamn it. pic.twitter.com/sHdtgE0lKp
— Mario Galaxy Movie Countdown (@galaxycountdown) March 26, 2026
What yall doing when the Mario movie is about to have a happy ending only for this guy to show up in the post credit scene pic.twitter.com/Epc8EgtYaO
— Dotodoya (@DotoDoya) March 26, 2026
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie comes to theaters on April 1. Place your bets on what other Nintendo characters might show up in the post-credits scene. My money’s on Kirby.