Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Getting An Animated Movie?
The Super Mario Bros. Movie made $1.36 billion to date, making it a massive success around the world. Since then, a Legend of Zelda live-action has been announced, most likely with Nintendo believing it will become another massive hit. That’s not the only video game adaptation being floated around apparently.
According to leaker Daniel Richtman, a Super Smash Bros. movie is being discussed at Illumination.
Super Smash Bros. May Get Animated Movie Treatment
With the massive popularity of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, some of the people working at Illumination have started speculating what other Nintendo properties could become the next animated blockbuster. And some are hoping to create a cinematic universe, similar to Marvel’s Avengers, by working with Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. surprisingly has rich lore beyond just being a fighting game with a massive roster. The general concept of the Smash Bros. series is that each character is a toy. That’s why they become a trophy after defeating Master Hand in Nintendo 64 — they are done being played with.
What is the Story of Super Smash Bros.?
This concept became more complex when single-player story modes were created. In Brawl back in 2008, Smash players raved about Subspace Emissary, the story mode. Every character on the roster was featured in the storyline, with a villain called Tabuu controlling Master Hand in an attempt to turn the Smash characters into statues that can’t come back to life. Many believe this is a reference to society feeling that playing with toys and games is “taboo.”
Ultimate’s World of Light campaign picked up this storyline once more. The entire roster is seemingly destroyed (except Kirby, who outran the threat). Kirby must save the Spirits of his friends so they can defeat Galeem.
This concept of the Smash roster being toys could work very well for a movie universe, especially because it includes popular characters from across many Nintendo franchises and other popular games. But with around 90 characters, it’s unclear who would appear in the Super Smash Bros. movie and how it would all work at the moment.
Another issue is that Nintendo doesn’t own all of the characters. Iconic characters like Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi are clearly owned by Nintendo, as well as characters from franchises like Star Fox, Fire Emblem, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, and Pikman. But other characters, like Sonic and Snake, are from different franchises and owned by other companies, so it’s unclear if they would be a part of the Super Smash Bros. animated movie if it happened.
For now, Illumination discussing a Super Smash Bros. movie is just a rumor. We will need to wait and see if the studio is hungry enough for a video game universe.
