Nintendo will recast Mario’s video game voice actor for first time in 25 years

Since 1994, voice actor Charles Martinet has provided voice lines for Mario, starting out with lines in Mario Teaches Typing and Mario's Game Gallery, before moving on to the games we all recognise today, like Super Mario 64, all the way up to Super Mario Odyssey. Now after a 25-year long career as the voice of Mario, Nintendo has announced that someone new will be taking on the role in the future.

In an announcement this afternoon, Nintendo confirmed that Martinet will no longer be the voice of Mario. However, Martinet will get a sweet new gig as Mario Ambassador, which will see him travelling to events and continuing to promote the Mario character in the years ahead.

“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this new transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games,” Nintendo’s statement reads. “It has been an honour working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him.”

Unfortunately, Nintendo has not announced who will replace Martinet as the next voice of Mario. This year, the Super Mario Bros. movie grossed over $1 billion at the box office with actor Chris Pratt taking on the main role. Later this year, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will release for Nintendo Switch and may end up being the debut title for Mario's new VA.

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KitGuru Says: Voice acting tends to be a job with a lot of inconsistency. It is incredibly rare to see one person alone voicing a character for the entire lifespan of an IP, so the 25-year long run is a huge achievement.

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