A new commercial for The Super Mario Bros. Movie premiered tonight, featuring an awesome take on the theme song from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. However, eagle-eyed viewers may have caught references to Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog films, as well! In the commercial, Mario and Luigi’s work van can be seen driving across a map starting from Brooklyn. As they drive, several locations can be seen, including “Red Hill” and “Mushroom Planet.” Mushroom Planet is a clear reference to the planet Dr. Robotnik is stranded on at the end of the first Sonic the Hedgehog, while Red Hill would seem to be a Mario reference to Sonic’s home in Green Hills.
A screen shot from the trailer can be found below, and readers can find the full commercial at the top of this page.
When the original Sonic the Hedgehog game released in 1991, the character was positioned as a rival for Mario. Sega and Nintendo maintained a bitter rivalry for a decade, but things changed when Sega began releasing Sonic games for platforms like the GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Over the last 20 years, the two characters have even appeared in games together, including titles like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games 2020 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
When the original Sonic the Hedgehog movie introduced its Mushroom Planet, some fans looked at it as a possible reference to Mario and Sonic’s old rivalry. It’s difficult to say whether that was intentional or coincidental, but the reference in the commercial for The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a lot clearer! The odds of Mario and Sonic appearing in the same movie together seem pretty slim, but Sonic the Hedgehog director Jeff Fowler has shared his interest in seeing the two characters share the screen. Speaking to ComicBook.com last year, Fowler shared his enthusiasm for the idea.
“Getting Mario and Sonic in the ring, I mean everyone would be kinda dying for that, right? That’s just classic,” said Fowler.
Are you looking forward to The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Did you catch these Sonic references? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter and on Hive at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
