Are you wondering if The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has any post-credits scenes? We’ll tell you right here: Yes, there are two — one mid-credits and the other at the very end after the credits.
Full spoilers follow from here!
It’s time to jump on those Launch Stars, Mario fans, because The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now in theaters. The second animated movie based on the massively popular game franchise features our favorite pair of plumbers going galactic as they face off against Bowser Junior, who is seeking to live up to the family tradition of world conquest and princess-napping. The movie is a bit on the thin side narratively because of how much Mario iconography it crams into its 98-minute runtime, as elaborated on by IGN’s Clint Gage in his 6/10 review, saying “it’s fun seeing all that stuff on screen, but without some kind of relatable story thriving underneath those references, it’s not as effective as it could be.” That said, this sequel is sure to entertain younger audiences and be pored over by Mario fans for all the Easter eggs and references.
More: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Review
So how does The Super Mario Galaxy Movie shake out? And what about the post-credits scenes? Do we learn where the franchise might be heading next? Let’s get into it.
Princess Power
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens, appropriately enough, in a location from the game it’s based on: the Comet Observatory, home of Princess Rosalina and her adopted children, the Lumas. Rosalina tries to tell the Lumas a bedtime story about Princess Peach, but the young stars want to hear about the Mario Brothers again. But before Rosalina can fulfill this request, the Observatory is attacked by Bowser Junior, who is driving his gigantic tripod robot Megaleg. Junior captures Rosalina and takes her into his starship, intending to use her cosmic powers to further his plans, which include freeing his father from his imprisonment. One particular Luma escapes into space to hopefully find the Mushroom Kingdom and enlist help.
We catch up with Mario and Luigi as they take a trip to Tostarena, which should be familiar to fans of Super Mario Odyssey. It’s here that they encounter Yoshi, quickly adding him to the group, much to Toad’s chagrin. Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, it’s Princess Peach’s birthday party, but the princess doesn’t feel much like celebrating because it’s only the day the Toads found her as a baby, and she doesn’t know her true origins. Mario tries to cheer her up with a birthday present: a classic pink parasol. That’s when the Luma crashes just outside the castle, and subsequently begs Peach (who is surprised to learn she’s known of in space) to help Rosalina. She inexplicably sets off with Toad but not with Mario and Luigi, who she leaves in charge of the Mushroom Kingdom until she returns.
This setup is one of the movie’s weirder structural choices, breaking up the group of main characters in a pretty arbitrary manner.“
But of course, circumstances conspire to set the brothers on the adventure anyway, along with Bowser, who is seeking redemption for his actions in the last film. This setup is one of the movie’s weirder structural choices, breaking up the group of main characters in a pretty arbitrary manner. They all wind up reuniting by happenstance at the Gateway Galaxy anyway, so why this plot turn was necessary is anyone’s guess. It sadly also makes it hard to figure out what the emotional core of this movie is supposed to be. The first film felt like it was ultimately about the sibling relationship between Mario and Luigi; this one sets up multiple possibilities to replace that central dynamic, like Mario’s romantic interest in Peach, Bowser’s worry about being an absentee father to Junior, and the mysterious connection between Peach and Rosalina. But the story never commits to any of them as its main thrust, ultimately leaving the sequel enjoyable but somewhat directionless.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Ending Explained
After the group gets back together and they link up with Fox McCloud from the Star Fox games, our heroes eventually head to Junior’s Planet Bowser space station to save Rosalina by way of the Lumas and the Comet Observatory. Junior is draining Rosalina’s cosmic power to drive his giant “Boomsday” cannon, which he plans to use to blow up… something or other. Fox gets the heroes on the planet in his Arwing, and the core group of Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi head off to stop the villains. Despite expressing a desire to make amends, Bowser is convinced to become King of the Koopas again by Junior’s devotion to the cause. In a scene reminiscent of the very first Super Mario Bros. game from 1985, Mario leaps over Bowser on a bridge atop some lava and cuts it down, leaving his archenemy to fall into the lava to his presumed death.
Yet Bowser isn’t defeated, but merely transformed: He emerges from the lava in his Dry Bowser form (basically just a giant skeleton), and reunites with Junior for a final battle with Mario and Luigi. It’s here that Junior’s magic paintbrush really gets put to work, with Luigi temporarily seizing it to create a Mr. Game and Watch (yes, really) for a few seconds, and Junior creating the Ruined Dragon from Mario Odyssey. But the dragon gets out of control and eats Junior, forcing Mario to fly through the beast’s paint-body to save him. Meanwhile, Peach has since learned that she is in fact Rosalina’s younger sister, and the pair use their cosmic powers in unison to break Rosalina out of Junior’s power-sapping device. They then turn Planet Bowser into a green planet with the same powers.
With the day saved, Bowser and Junior are carted off to prison by Fox, while the Lumas rejoice at being reunited with their mother. They then say they want to see Peach’s castle, which is a problem because Junior destroyed it earlier with his starship. To make up for this, everyone works together to rebuild the castle in a sequence stylized to look like 16-bit animation reminiscent of Super Mario World. The end!
Does The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Have Any Post-Credits Scenes?
As noted earlier, there are indeed two post-credits scenes, although only one of them hints at the future of the franchise. The mid-credits scene shows Fox after he drops Bowser and Junior off at a frosty prison. Inside, Bowser is still a pile of sentient bones, and Junior is trying to dig their way to freedom. But the pair are then scared into submission when they learn that their prison guard is none other than the Lumalee from the first movie, who tells them that they have nothing but death to look forward to. Dark! But hilarious.
The scene at the very end of the credits is more notable for what it may mean for the next film, though. We return to the Gateway Galaxy, where a Ukiki (thieving monkeys from various Mario games) who stole Toad’s backpack earlier in the film tries to steal something from a Whittle, only for the Ukiki to get punched out by a gloved hand. The camera turns to reveal none other than Princess Daisy, ruler of Sarasaland, who sadly doesn’t speak but makes her film debut here…
What’s Next for the Mario Movies? (A Super Smash Bros. Movie Maybe…?)
That’s the biggest question after leaving the theater, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie doesn’t give a definitive answer. While a presumed Mario 3 will almost assuredly include Princess Daisy since she gets a post-credits cameo, this film doesn’t end on a cliffhanger or an obvious setup for the next film. There are weirdly quite a few references to Super Mario Odyssey despite being called the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, so perhaps the next film will take even more of its cues from that entry. Bowser being friendly with Mario for much of the film may also hint that the franchise custodians intend to build on the idea of the pair being on cordial enough terms to do things like play sports or race go-karts together. Who do I have to call to get a Mario Superstar Baseball movie?
Some fans may cry foul at certain lore changes, the most prominent of which is Peach and Rosalina being revealed to be sisters despite not being family in the games. However, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that he and Mario Galaxy game director Yoshiaki Koizumi did intend for Peach and Rosalina to have a deeper connection as far back as 2007 game, but it hasn’t been elaborated on until now.
The bigger deal is Fox McCloud showing up via a hole in the space-time continuum, hinting that an entire multiverse of Nintendo properties may just be one wormhole away from appearing in future installments. Given Fox’s inclusion, a cameo from a few Pikmin, and Peach using some of her fighting moves, could Nintendo be building up to a Super Smash Bros. event film? Only time will tell.
What did you think of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie? Let us know in the comments!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
