Original Super Mario Bros. Star John Leguizamo Criticizes New Mario Movie For Being "All White"

After Nintendo recently announced the main voice cast for its upcoming new animated Mario movie, actor and co-star of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film John Leguizamo took to Twitter to voice his disappointment that "they went all white." In the nearly 20 years since the original's release, Leguizamo has been among the most outspoken of the movie's complicated and flawed legacy as a box office dud.

Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, and Jack Black are among the number of actors starring in the upcoming film. All are name actors and huge stars, and while Leguizamo expressed his excitement over the reboot, he said the original has "groundbreaking colorblind casting" and voiced further disappointment that there are "no Latinx in the leads." Check out the full tweet below, which also includes a quick mention that he's "the only one who knows how to make this movie work script-wise."

Mario will talk "a lot" in the movie, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said during the briefing. Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy plays Princess Peach, while It's Always Sunny's Charlie Day voices Luigi. Jack Black voices Bowser, while Keegan-Michael Key plays Toad. Seth Rogen portrays Donkey Kong, and Mario's video game voice actor, Charles Martinet, will perform "surprise cameos."

The new Mario movie comes out on December 21, 2022.