Super Mario Galaxy has hit theaters around the world with a bang. Featuring a veritable gallery of characters from the colorful universe of the mustachioed plumber, the sequel faces the difficult task of matching the success of the first animated film, which grossed over $1 billion at the global box office. To captivate fans, Nintendo, alongside Illumination and Universal Pictures, has prepared some surprises, such as the notable appearance of one of video games’ most beloved heroes, Fox McCloud.
Who is Fox McCloud?
Fox McCloud is the protagonist of the Star Fox franchise. He is an anthropomorphic fox who lives in a futuristic universe where, alongside a team of mercenaries, he fights to defend the Lylat System from the mad scientist Andross. It’s almost like a video game version of Guardians of the Galaxy. With no new games released in ten years, this would be an interesting time to revive a franchise that has spanned different generations of video games—especially since Nintendo just launched the Switch 2.
The character appears in the movie to help Princess Peach, Mario, and their friends on their mission to rescue Rosalina. He and the Italian protagonist end up getting along very well, sharing some great moments during the adventure—something that should bode well for the character’s future in a potential Star Fox movie.
How was Star Fox incorporated into the Mario universe in the movie?
According to Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the franchise and executive producer of the animation, the idea to include Fox McCloud in the film came both from producer Chris Meledandri and from a long-standing request by Glen Powell, who had previously expressed a desire to voice the character.
“When I received Chris’s proposal to include Star Fox, generally speaking, from Nintendo’s perspective, we tend to avoid mixing intellectual properties, with the exception of Pikmin’s cameo,” he revealed in an interview with Forbes. “That said, as the creator of Star Fox and knowing that this movie takes place in space, I felt I wanted to see it happen. I wanted to see what it would be like, but I also felt there could be significant internal resistance to the idea. So, after receiving the proposal, I reached out to the parties involved and started lobbying here at Nintendo.”
As soon as the idea was approved, Miyamoto was also eager to see the character in its cinematic form. “I was surprised to find that many people saw a lot of potential in it and were really excited to see what would come of it,” he said.
“When we were working on the first movie, we started getting calls from actors. They began expressing their enthusiasm. After the first movie wrapped, we received two calls from actors demonstrating incredible conviction and passion for being involved with Nintendo, and one of them was from Glen Powell. He explained that we needed to understand just how much he loved the character Fox McCloud. His dream was to one day be part of a Star Fox movie. I heard that and thought, ‘He has no idea that Mr. Miyamoto and I are discussing Star Fox’s presence in this new movie,’ and Glen was expressing that passion for it.”
“What happened was, after we talked it over, we decided we wanted Star Fox to appear in this new movie as a surprise,” he continued. "When I called Glen, I said, ‘Look, I want you to talk to me, but it has to be completely confidential—you can't tell anyone,’ since no one knew that this character would be so heavily involved in the movie. Besides, we felt the character was a perfect fit for Glen Powell, and he fits the role perfectly. It was one of those gifts."
Is Star Fox getting a movie?
Present throughout the entire process and responsible for key decisions during production, Shigeru Miyamoto said many ideas were floated for this sequel—ideas that could lead to new stories on the big screen. “I can say that the team working on the movie, including the actors, is made up of many Mario fans. They suggested so many ideas for using different characters that we almost couldn’t include everything. So, we’re really looking forward to creating more movies.”
Although it hasn’t been confirmed yet, the hero’s appearance in Super Mario Galaxy could hint at a standalone adventure in theaters. In fact, this universe seems to be just beginning to explore the possibilities seen in Nintendo’s games, but only the future—and box office results—will reveal the next steps.