As for what it might offer, that remains unclear, outside of a few vague clues. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's ending includes some setup for a sequel, but stops short of spelling out what the next challenge will be. As it stands, the identity of the next villain for Mario and Luigi to face is open to speculation. Theoretically, it could be Bowser again.
That said, Mario and his friends have defeated Bowser during the final battle of a movie twice now. All things considered, the franchise may opt to utilize a different character from Mario's world when the story continues. There's a few noteworthy candidates for such a role, one of which is Tatanga, a purple alien and a boss from two Super Mario games.
Tatanga is a lesser-known antagonist compared to Bowser and Bowser Jr., and a character Mario hasn't gone up against in 34 years. But even though his relevance to the franchise faded decades ago, no Super Mario character makes more sense for the role of the next movie's villain than Tatanga.
5
Tatanga Is The Main Villain Of Princess Daisy's Biggest Story
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's post-credits scene may have done more than just reveal one of the next film's supporting characters; it featured Princess Daisy, who notably made her video game debut in the 1989 Game Boy classic, Super Mario Land. Daisy is introduced as the ruler of a world called Sarasaland. In the gama, Mario must venture across Sarasaland to defeat Tatanga, who has taken Daisy prisoner and conquered her kingdom.
Princess Daisy has appeared in many games since then, but Super Mario Land remains to this day her most important role in the mainline series. With Daisy now on hand and likely to be a major character in the next Super Mario film, there's a good chance the plot will pertain directly to her arrival, and if that's true, Tatanga may be the reason. He is, after all, her only true enemy in Super Mario canon.
The next film being an adaptation of Super Mario Land would also provide a working explanation for Princess Daisy showing up at the Gateway Galaxy. If Tatanga has followed in the footsteps of his game counterpart and taken control of Sarasaland, Daisy may be on her way to the Mushroom Kingdom to ask Princess Peach to send help.
4
Tatanga Being The Villain Would Help Clear The Way For Wario
Princess Daisy isn't the only character fans expect to see in the next Super Mario film. As the most important character still missing from the world of the movies, Wario will naturally be the most talked-about potential addition ahead of its release. And given the excitement he'd bring, and the current pace at which it's introducing characters, Wario does feel like a logical pick for a major part in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's sequel.
If Super Mario Land is indeed the focus of the story, the movie will have an easy path toward a big role for Wario. Wario made his first appearance in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the game's main villain. His arrival was a consequence of Mario's battle with Tatanga in the previous game; while Mario was trying to rescue Daisy in Sarasaland, Wario was busy taking over Mario's kingdom.
When Mario returned to fight Wario, Tatanga joined up with Wario, serving as one of the bosses Mario had to fight on his way to the final showdown with Wario. It's possible a sequel to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will merge the two narratives, having some characters help Daisy in Sarasaland while the others deal with Wario in the Mushroom Kingdom, as part of an alliance between the two villains.
3
Tatanga Works With The Cosmic Theme Of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Pivoting from the battle with Bowser and Bowser Jr. in outer space to a conflict with Tatanga would infuse something fresh into the narrative, while also coming across as an organic move. As an extraterrestrial threat, Tatanga meshes well with the story's current direction and its cosmic theme.
Of course, the next entry is unlikely to be The Super Mario Galaxy Movie 2, but it completely abandoning that element isn't probable either. With Princess Rosalina and the Lumas joining the fold and the lingering mystery surrounding Princess Peach's origins (which appear to be cosmic in nature), it's hard to imagine the franchise walking away from that altogether.
By utilizing the story of Super Mario Land, the next movie can stay on that course via its villain, while employing an all-new setting at the same time.
2
The Super Mario Movies Have Largely Avoided Tatanga's Games
Curiously, the movies have done very little with the Super Mario Land games. Admittedly, there have been some Easter eggs, but most have minor references or musical Easter eggs. That stands in stark contrast to the approach it's taken with other games. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island received a significant tribute when Yoshi had to protect Baby Mario and Baby Luigi from a T-Rex. And then there's the casino sequence, which was a brilliant homage to Super Mario Bros. 2 that finally brought its main villain, Wart, back into prominence.
The films also worked in key story beats and moments from Super Mario Sunshine, and New Super Mario Bros. Since the movies have already used the biggest parts of their stories, it's hard to imagine there being a plan for one of them to get a direct adaptation. With that in mind, it stands to reason that one of the games that it's mostly steered clear of - like Super Mario Land - is the next one on the horizon.
1
Tatanga Fits The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's "Evil Forces" Tease
Further supporting Tatanga's case to be the villain of a third movie is the mention of there being "evil forces" after Peach and Rosalina in their youth in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Thus far, there's been a sense that the films are focused on the games in the mainline series, so while characters like the Shadow Queen and Fawful from the Mario & Luigi games could technically be the subject of this hint, the likelihood of a spinoff driving the plot is low.
That significantly narrows the options for future villains. Other than Tatanga, the other possible candidates from the mainline games are the Koopalings, Wario, and Waluigi. But the villain in question has to be a character old enough to have been chasing Rosalina and Peach when they were children. That should eliminate the Koopalings, and both Wario and Waluigi are depicted as being in the same age range as Mario and Luigi, whereas Tatanga's age is much less defined.
What's more, there was a purple light in the background when the "evil forces" were mentioned in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which could be interpreted as a clue that Tatanga was the one pursuing them.
Release Date
April 1, 2026
Runtime
98 Minutes
Director
Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack
Writers
Matthew Fogel
Producers
Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto
English (US) ·