A Nintendo cinematic universe is allegedly on the way, and these 10 Nintendo crossover stories from video games can perfectly fulfill The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2‘s shared universe tease. The universe of Nintendo video games has been shared for a long time, with the various characters crossing over in a variety of ways. Because of this, it has been expected that Nintendo’s movie franchises will cross over in a style similar to Super Smash Bros., something that The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 seems to be setting up.
Chris Pratt has teased plans for a Nintendo cinematic universe, with the Mario actor explaining that the upcoming slate of Nintendo movies is set to launch the project. The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 is already on the way, with it following up on Illumination and Nintendo’s first collaboration. Now, Nintendo is working on a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, showing that the company is interested in further expanding into the film market. There are all kinds of Nintendo IPs that could be part of the cinematic universe, leading to these 10 storylines.
The most obvious route for the Nintendo cinematic universe would be to culminate in a fighting tournament, following up on the Super Smash Bros. video game series. The Super Smash Bros. franchise is Nintendo’s most popular crossover, with it featuring all of Nintendo’s biggest franchises coming together for a platform fighting game. The roster features Nintendo’s biggest characters as well as some lesser-known picks, which is why it is perfect for a big crossover finale.
The Super Smash Bros. movie could be to the Nintendo cinematic universe what The Avengers is to the MCU, with it starting out with a core roster from the first Nintendo 64 game and expanding with each new entry. There is a lot of potential for a fighting tournament centered around these characters, which is why it is such a fun pick for the movie series.
If Nintendo wants to tell a grander story that builds off of a Nintendo cinematic universe, then the best crossover story to pull from the video games is the team-up of their most evil video game villains. Super Smash Bros. Brawl‘s story mode followed the Nintendo protagonists as they attempted to stop a supervillain syndicate made up of some of the company’s most iconic villains, such as Bowser, Wario, King Dedede, and Ganondorf.
This would make perfect sense for a Nintendo cinematic universe arc, with each movie setting up a villain for the evil Nintendo syndicate. Plenty of villains from The Super Mario Bros. Movie series could be included as well as other franchise picks like Metroid‘s Ridley, Splatoon‘s Octolings, Kid Icarus‘ Hades, and more. These villains alone may not be much, but together they could pose a universe-ending threat.
While using preexisting franchise villains in the crossover project would be fun, it is also possible that the Nintendo cinematic universe could use another Super Smash Bros. storyline and feature Nintendo’s main villain: Tabuu. Tabuu is the main antagonist of Super Smash Bros. Brawl‘s story mode, with him being nearly undefeatable without the help of every character in the Super Smash Bros. roster.
Tabuu’s story could be significantly fleshed out, with him potentially acting like the Thanos of the Nintendo cinematic universe. Tabuu could recruit villains from each of the different Nintendo worlds, forming the evil team that exists in the games. Tabuu is a big enough threat to warrant having an entire arc centered around him, which is why he would be a great pick for the Nintendo cinematic universe if it does actually happen.
Moving away from the iconic Super Smash Bros. storylines for a little bit, it is also possible that the Nintendo cinematic universe could want to use its crossovers for fun rather than as a serious dramatic saga. Thus, one of the other most prominent Nintendo crossovers is the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series, with each entry featuring the Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises crossing over to compete in various Olympic sports.
A big crossover special following characters from each of the Nintendo franchises as they compete in the Olympics could be a lot of fun, even if it seems like a weird idea for a movie. After all, an Olympics crossover game also seemed like a weird idea for a video game, especially considering that it was the first time that Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog had crossed over.
Another method for Nintendo to cross over its characters while staying away from a big dramatic saga would be for the company to have its movie characters race in a massive grand prix. Outside of Super Smash Bros., the Mario Kart franchise has become Nintendo’s biggest crossover series. Characters from Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon all appear in Mario Kart 8, highlighting the potential for an even greater crossover.
Animated racing movies like Cars and Turbo have proven that this formula works, and sprinkling in some of Nintendo’s most iconic characters could make this a big hit. The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s Mario Kart representation was one of the best parts of the movie, so making a big crossover film centered around this aspect seems like a great movie idea.
Another dark storyline from the video games that could be used in the Nintendo cinematic universe oddly has the Nintendo cast getting turned into trophies. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wario travels around the Nintendo universe with a massive ray that turns characters into trophies, with him blasting the Nintendo icons and taking them away once they are in solid form.
This would be a great way to turn the iconography of Super Smash Bros. into true diegetic plot points, with the trophies being an aspect of the series that needs to be represented in the movies. This storyline has already been tested in the video game and is held up as one of Nintendo’s most intense crossover storylines, so a Nintendo crossover movie in which the villains enact this same plot could actually work.
If a Nintendo cinematic universe is to actually happen, then one villain absolutely has to appear: Master Hand. Although Tabuu is the most dangerous villain in the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Master Hand is the most recognizable one, with him appearing in every Super Smash Bros. video game since the original one. Master Hand is usually the final boss in Super Smash Bros. games, and while he hasn’t been given a proper narrative story, he does have some lore.
In the world of Super Smash Bros., the fighters are meant to be toys, with Master Hand being the representation of the child’s hand that is playing with them. This aspect is important to the tone of the franchise, and while the Nintendo cinematic universe can give Master Hand a different story, he has to appear in the movies at some point.
While it seems likely that The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be the cornerstone of the Nintendo cinematic universe, it is possible that another Nintendo series could turn out to be more foundational to the franchise. If a potential Animal Crossing movie turns out to be a big success, than the Nintendo cinematic universe can use that franchise as a basis, adapting its big crossover story into a movie.
In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a campground exists in which some of Nintendo’s most iconic animal characters can move in, with the likes of Ganondorf, the Inklings, and more appearing in the game. An Animal Crossing village entirely populated by Nintendo characters could be a lot of fun, putting these video game crossover icons in close proximity to one another for an extended amount of time.
One of the weirdest options for the Nintendo cinematic universe would be to have all of the Nintendo characters come together to play Monopoly, and while this may sound incredibly strange, it is actually based on one of the company’s most popular crossovers. Thus, if Nintendo wants to move away from Super Smash Bros. while also including some third-party characters, then they need to rely on Fortune Street.
The Fortune Street series is a video game series modeled after the Monopoly board games, with it being a crossover between Super Mario and Dragon Quest. This series is more popular in Japan than it is in the West, although the Wii version of Fortune Street was a hit upon its release. Thus, this is another possible route for the Nintendo cinematic universe, although it is less likely than adapting Super Smash Bros.