Charles Martinet Will No Longer Be the Voice of Mario
Nintendo has just confirmed that the iconic voice actor for Mario, Charles Martinet, will no longer provide the voice of the character going forward. This was announced in an X post where Nintendo stated that Martinet will be stepping back into a ‘Mario Ambassador’ role. This post also confirmed that there will be an official video announcement from Shigeru Miyamoto and Martinet regarding the decision to be unveiled at a later date.
Image by Nintendo
Responding to the tweet, Charles Martinet posted “My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo!!!!!!!”. While it’s sad for a lot of fans to see Martinet step down as the voice of Mario for over 27 years, he’s still very involved with the IP- and being the one and only Mario Ambassador is certainly going to be important (even if we don’t really have any idea of what this means). Ever since Super Mario 64, fans have been enjoying the classic Italian mumblings of Mario and Luigi- and that’s enough to make Martinet one of the most iconic figures in gaming, even though he is stepping down from the role.
Image by Nintendo
The official reason for this decision has not been made yet, but it seems that this decision was a mutual one to give the voice of Mario a refresh going forward. In fact, it has now been confirmed that the voices in the upcoming ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’ were not done by Martinet, as soon eagle-eared viewers previously deduced upon its reveal. While the new actor has not been revealed yet, the voices are still very similar to what we’ve been hearing for nearly three decades. Rest assured; it doesn’t seem like Chris Pratt will be the new main voice talent for the character moving forward.
Image by Nintendo
For more details on Martinet and Mario’s voice going forward, look out for the special announcement video likely coming in the next few weeks/months. Although it represents the end of an era for the most recognizable video game figures of all time, its also exciting for long-term fans of the series to see new twists on age-old characters. While Martinet’s time as the main voice is over, his role as the Mario Ambassador will likely still involve him spreading joy as the original and Iconic Mario Mario.
