The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s deepest cut character of Foreman Spike may not return in the sequel as actor Sebastian Maniscalco revealed he hasn’t heard anything about reprising his role.
Maniscalco told Screen Rant how he was shocked to see Spike, a character originally from 1985’s Wrecking Crew, didn’t have a plushie version in stores and took this as a sign that Nintendo wasn’t interested in bringing his role back.
“We went to Universal Studios, and they had a Super Mario store with all the merchandise,” Maniscalco said. “I was with my kids, I go, ‘Guys, come on. I’m going to show you daddy’s character in a stuffed animal.’ No Spike, no nothing.
“It stopped at me. It was every other character, and then me, I have no animal, no stuffy, no nothing. So, the fact that I didn’t have a stuffed animal is not giving me a lot of confidence that I’m coming back for the sequel. I haven’t heard anything, so your guess is as good as mine.”
The Super Mario Bros. Movie arrived in 2023 and was a smash hit for Nintendo, pulling in $1.36 billion worldwide. This quickly led to the announcement of a second film, but outside an April 3, 2026 release date, practically nothing is known about it.
In our 8/10 review of the first film, IGN said: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fireball of animated fantasy, overcoming a Paper Mario-thin plot with undeniable charm and energy.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
