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[UPDATE: Kevin Afghani has confirmed his role as Mario in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, dispelling rumors of Mick Wingert voicing the character. More on Afghani’s role as Mario can be foundhere. The original story can be found below.]
A recent datamine might have uncovered the actor who is voicing Mario inSuper Mario Bros. Wonder: Mick Wingert. The release of Nintendo’s next 2D platformer next week will be a bittersweet moment for manyMariofans, as it marksthe end of Charles Martinet’s legendary runas the famed plumber. Martinet has provided Mario’s iconic catchphrases for about as long as theSuper Mariogames have had voice acting, and the announcement that he would be stepping down from the role earlier this year was met with somber responses from those who grew up with his performance.
While Charles Martinet will continue to represent theSuper Mariofranchise in live events as an ambassador for Nintendo, Mario and the other characters he once voicedwill be played by new actorsstarting withSuper Mario Bros. Wonder. Naturally, there has been much speculation about who will don Mario’s signature red plumber’s cap, but Nintendo itself has kept the identity of his new voice actor under wraps. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser even stated that there would be no official announcement regarding Mario’s new voice untilSuper Mario Bros. Wonderlaunches on October 20, but some fans might have unraveled the mystery ahead of time.
According to VGC, an unverified list of voice actors forSuper Mario Bros. Wondersurfaced on forums like 4Chan and Resetra earlier this week. This list was reportedly obtained by an unnamed user who somehow gained access toSuper Mario Bros. Wonder’s kiosk demo and modified it to access information not meant to be seen by the public. While no specific characters were listed in the leak, forum users have deduced through the process of elimination that Mario’s new voice actor could be Mick Wingert.
Wingert is a fairly active player inthe world of video game voice acting, having contributed his talents to titles likeGenshin Impact,Marvel’s Spider-Man, andKingdom Hearts 3in recent years. Outside of gaming, he has voiced Tony Stark and his alter-ego Iron Man in various Marvel cartoons and Po inKung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomenessamong countless other performances.
In addition to Mario being played by Mick Wingert, fans suspect that Kevin Afghani (known for playing Arnold inGenshin Impact) is voicing the talking flowers players will encounter inSuper Mario Bros. Wonder. Not everyone has been recast, as longtimeMarioalumni Deanna Mustard will supposedly return asthe now-playable Princess Daisy. The leaked list also notes that Samantha Kelly (who voices Princess Peach, Toad, and Toadette), Kenny James (aka the voice of Bowser), and Caety Sagoian (who plays Bowser Jr) will all reprise their roles inSuper Mario Bros. Wonder.
Of course, this is only a leaked list of vocal performances from an unverified source, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt untilSuper Mario Bros. Wonderis released next week. Whoever takes overthe role of Mario from Charles Martinetwill undoubtedly have big shoes to fill, and if this latest rumor is correct then that actor could be video game veteran Mick Wingert. He has certainly demonstrated a wide range in his many gaming roles over the years, and it will be interesting to see if he is indeed the new voice of Nintendo’s mascot going forward.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderlaunches on October 20, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
