The Super Mario Galaxy Movie cast a surprising Yoshi: Donald Glover

During a new Nintendo Direct on Monday, Nintendo and Illumination revealed the final trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. While that new look at Mario and Luigi’s next adventure looks impressively larger in scope than 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was a handful of casting reveals that stole the show.

That includes the surprise reveal of Donald Glover (Atlanta, Community) as Yoshi the dinosaur. Yoshi has traditionally been voiced by Kazumi Totaka, the veteran musician and composer of dozens of Nintendo games. Glover is stepping into Yoshi’s weird shoes that are somehow attached to Yoshis at birth, giving The Super Mario Galaxy Movie extra star power. Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri says that Glover is a “Nintendo super-fan.”

Joining Glover in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie are Luis Guzmán (Wednesday, Boogie Nights) as the recently revealed Wart, and Issa Rae (Insecure, Barbie) as Honey Queen, the “imposing ruler of the Honeyhive Galaxy,” as described by Meledandri.

The latest trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also confirms the return of Lumalee, the beloved nihilistic Luma who was a breakout hit from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This time, Lumalee is flexing her cruelty as a… prison guard?

In the follow-up to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach face a new threat in Bowser Jr and his father, who is now back to normal size. Our heroes are joined by new newcomers Rosalina and Yoshi in a story that expands the Super Mario cinematic universe well beyond Brooklyn and the Mushroom Kingdom. According to Meledandri, there will be more characters from the Super Mario universe that have not yet been revealed, “some big surprises and some very small.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie actors Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek) reprise their respective roles in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. New to the franchise are Brie Larson as Rosalina and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens in movie theaters on April 1. To tide you over, here’s Donald Glover’s outstanding headshot for the reveal of his role as Yoshi.