I watched The Super Mario Bros Movie during its opening week with the intent of writing this Easter eggs and references article, only to realize that the movie is nothing but Easter Eggs and references. A thorough roundup would be indistinguishable from a wholesale rundown of the entire movie.
The plot for The Super Mario Bros Movie is paper-thin. Narratively, the characters are static bordering on inert; there’s no arc or growth to any of them. It’s just one action set piece to the next; your enjoyment is intimately tied to your pre-existing knowledge of these characters and your ability to recognize a parade of homages to Nintendo history.
It is, in other words, narratively identical to a Mario 2D platformer. Critics are complaining about the lack of characterization and depth in the Mario movie. But to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, there is no “there” there. We needn’t be so harsh.
Take that away, and we’re left with a reel of Easter eggs, which is exactly how this movie was intended. Here are 20 of the best ones that we spotted. Which one was your favorite?
Oh, hello there. I see you’ve got your phone out at the movie theater and you’re sitting in the credits for TheSuper Mario Bros. Movie. You’re probably here wondering if there are extra scenes worth sticking around for. Well, I’m here to answer that question and more, so let’s jump down the warp pipe and into the unknown.
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Does The Super Mario Bros. Movie have a post-credits scene?
In short, yes. It has two, actually. One happens during the credits, and another happens right at the very end. Let’s break down both scenes. And no, we’re not talking about the weirdly existential Luma that comes back around near the end. Hopefully the fact that Luma is in the movie at all, though, is a cause to hope for something more SMG-sized. Peach does tell Mario that there are a ton of galaxies out there while they’re waiting in a field of power-ups.
What is Bowser’s fate?
The first scene features Bowser reprising his song from earlier in the movie called “Peaches.” This is nice, because he was rudely interrupted while singing it before, and now he gets to belt out a few more lines about his unrequited love for the princess. Jack Black apparently wrote Peaches himself! However, it turns out he’s still shrunken down and in his bottle prison from the final fight. It’s unclear if the Mushroom Kingdom is just going to keep him locked up in there, but at least he’ll be able to serenade anyone who passes by.
If you wait a little bit longer after that scene and through all the names scrolling on the screen, there’s a second teaser.
Super Mario Bros. teases a very special Yoshi
While the Bowser scene is cute, the one of real consequence is the post-credits scene at the very end of the film. In it, we see a Yoshi egg has ended up in the Brooklyn sewers after Mario and Bowser’s fight brought parts of the Mushroom Kingdom into the movie’s depiction of New York. As the egg starts to crack, the screen cuts to black and we hear the little dinosaur’s iconic “yoshi” cry.
While this egg likely belongs to the iconic green Yoshi that’s accompanied Mario throughout several games, this isn’t the first time the movie references these dinosaur steeds. In fact, there was a huge herd of them earlier in the movie when Mario and Peach are on their way to the Jungle Kingdom to recruit Cranky Kong’s army. So if the movie is taking the time to single out this specific egg, it likely means the movie is teasing a specific Yoshi that might have a larger role in a hypothetical sequel.
Reception to The Super Mario Moviehas been pretty mixed. Those who have already seen the movie have called it overly referential and or found some of its performances lacking, while others have praised its gorgeous animation. Ultimately, I’m not too surprised given I’ve always found Illumination’s output to be lacking. But hey, at least we got to see Bowser be down bad and singing. That’s fun!
