Charles Martinet Is Retiring as Mario And He Will Never Be Forgotten

It was just announced today that Charles Martinet, the man behind the voice of Mario since he started speaking, will be retiring after over three decades of voicing the iconic character. He had also done the voice for other notable characters in the Mario franchise such as Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and their baby equivalents. It’s unknown yet who will be taking over the role but whoever it is will make their debut voicing Mario in the upcoming game Super Mario Wonder, set to release on October 20th. While Martinet will still remain at Nintendo as a special ambassador, his time as the Italian plumber and a few others have come to an end. His last notable roles in the Mario franchise came from last year’s releases of Mario Strikers: Battle League and Mario + Rabbids Spark of Hope along with The Super Mario Bros. Movie where he did some cameo roles and voiced Mario and Luigi’s father.

To say that whoever will replace him will have big shoes to fill would be an understatement. You are replacing a legend who had helped bring so much life and energy to what was originally a very muted character. Sure, there were a handful of notable actors that voiced the character in other entertainment mediums such as the 90s show, 90s live-action movie, and of course, the animated movie from this year but it’s never really happen in the form of medium that the character is most well known for, the video games. Whether you like it or not, things are about to change for the better or worse.

Admittedly, Mario as a character isn’t well known for his award-winning voice acting. In the games themselves, he never really talks in long or coherent sentences to give Martinet an “Oscar” moment and only speaks ups every once in a while to utter the same phrase that the player is thinking about at that very moment. However, it’s that voice alone that brings the life and energy to that character that has helped defined him over the past 30+ years. It’s the voice that exists to give you a glimpse at what that character would sound like in real life and have anyone imagine how it would sound if the character was more talkative. It may not be a whole lot but it’s definitely enough. Just hearing Charles Martinet say “Yahoo!” as Mario sounds right every single time!

That’s not to say having a different voice actor for Mario will make those iconic lines sound wrong but it won’t sound right the way it used to be. No matter how good of a job the next person up might end up doing, he will be compared unfairly to Charles Martinet. Whether he will try hard to sound exactly like Martinet’s Mario or do his own spin on it, he will never be Charles Martinet and there is no denying that. Just ask Chris Pratt!

In the best case scenario, this will be the equivalent of when Troy Baker took over the role as Joker from Mark Hamill or when Tara Strong took over the role as Harley Quinn from Arleen Sorkin. While they do resemble their previous voice actors to an extent and can never fully captured the spark they provided, they are still worth successors in their own right. That’s because they are able to provide enough of their own take on the characters they are voicing that makes their version stand out greatly in their own rights and pays respects to the characters they are voicing along with the actors they are succeeding. If this is a similar case scenario for Mario, then I think this will work out just fine and the next person up should have nothing much to worry about.

While Nintendo hasn’t announced yet who will be the voice of Mario in Super Mario Wonder and beyond, there have been some voiced clips released with the gameplay that has been shown so far of the game. If what we have heard so far is any indication, then I think we are in good hands. I certainly am curious though if the new voice actor for Mario will also be voicing multiple characters as well, most notably the ones that Martinet voiced such as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. Even so, I’ve liked what we’ve heard of Mario’s new voice so far. If you want to be your own judge, here’s a link to the gameplay footage shown thus far and form your own opinion.

While Charles Martinet no longer voicing Mario is certainly a shock, it is something that was gonna have to be done at some point. As the good old saying goes, all goods things must come to an end. Regardless, no matter how Mario sounds from hear on out, Charles Martinet will always be known as the main voice behind the famous Italian Plumber for generations. While he will certainly be missed as the voice of Mario, he will certainly never be forgotten.

Thanks for everything, Charles Martinet! And whoever had the balls to follow in his footsteps, I wish you the best of luck!

Super Mario Bros. Wonder will be released on October 20th!