The Super Mario Galaxy Movie isn’t exactly getting stellar reviews, and while franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto finds the film’s poor critical reception “truly baffling,” he’s committed to bringing the film’s lore into the game franchise upon which it is based. Specifically, Miyamoto has confirmed that Peach’s family origins–which are revealed in the film–are considered canon in the Mario universe, games included.
Ed. note: The following article contains major spoilers for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie confirms a decades-old fan theory regarding Princess Peach’s family. In the first film, we learn that she stumbled into the Mushroom Kingdom after wandering into a Warp Pipe as a young child. The Mushroom Kingdom’s inhabitants raised Peach, and eventually made her their princess. But she’s not the only blonde-haired, blue-eyed royal in the galaxy, and as many players have suspected for years, Peach is actually the older sister of Princess Rosalina.
In a recent interview with Japanese outlet Nintendo Dream (translated by Nintendo Everything), Miyamoto was asked if Peach’s extended backstory would be considered canon going forward. Miyamoto’s answer was yes, with the caveat that he doesn’t want too much movie canon to result in limits on in-game lore.
“Because we don’t know what kind of game we’ll make next with our [Mario] characters, having too many character settings would become a constraint,” he explained. “I’m fine with being bound by the gameplay, but I don’t want to be bound by having created a story, which has been the reason for [us] not making movies [based on our games] for many years.”
Miyamoto says that prior to working on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Peach’s backstory wasn’t set in stone–but it is now, and that backstory is one he plans to stick to when it comes to future games.
“Before making this movie, I hadn’t decided on the character’s backstory, but now that I’m making the movie, it’s become fun to expand on the character in various ways,” he added. “Therefore, I would like to adhere as much as possible to the settings created in the movie in future games.”
By “settings,” Miyamoto seems to be referring to major canon reveals, including Peach’s family ties to Rosalina.
Despite underwhelming reviews from critics, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has now grossed $752 million globally, making it the number-one film of 2026 thus far.
