Super Mario Galaxy Movie Teaser Includes Pikmin, Though Technically They’ve Been Part of Mario Canon for 20 Years

A new teaser for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie features Nintendo’s adorable Pikmin, marking their latest canon appearance alongside the Mushroom Kingdom’s characters.

That’s right, Pikmin have been canon to the world of Super Mario for years — though you’d be forgiven for missing them. (They are very small, after all.)

This new movie teaser shows a Red Pikmin, Blue Pikmin and Yellow Pikmin all appearing for a split-second in a roster of other familiar characters and enemies. Blink and you’ll miss them, but they’re in there alongside Mario, Kamek, the previously-leaked ROB the Robot, Piantas from Super Mario Sunshine, Whittles from Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Mouser the mouse from Super Mario Bros. 2.

https://twitter.com/supermariomovie/status/2033951501781963096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Is this a joke by Nintendo, or will Pikmin really feature in the movie? Well, there’s no reason why not — especially following the appearance of Pikmin in the newly-released Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park. Head to the Light-Switch Mansion in the Switch 2 version of Wonder and you’ll spot a cluster of Glow Pikmin from Pikmin 4 making a brief appearance.

But, as Nintendo fans will know, Pikmin have been making appearances in Mario games for years. The earliest example of Pikmin in a Mario game was 2003’s GameCube sports spinoff Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, where the creatures can occasionally be seen popping up from flowerbeds.

Memorably, Super Mario Galaxy notably includes a ship that appears to be Olimar and Louie’s rocket from Pikmin 2. More recently, a Pikmin statue appears as an Easter egg in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Pikmin can be seen dotted throughout the real-life Super Nintendo World theme park, which is themed around the Mushroom Kingdom.

“It really stems back to 20 years ago when we did a presentation where it starts off with, there’s a Pikmin next to you,” Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto previously told IGN, discussing the appearance of Pikmin at Super Nintendo World, and the dinky characters’ unique ability to cross over with Mario and appear outside of their own franchise.

“In Nintendo there’s sort of like an unwritten rule,” Miyamoto continued. “Mario needs to stay in the Mario universe, or Splatoon needs to stay in Splatoon, and we don’t use different characters in the same place. But Pikmin has this kind of unwritten rule where they’re okay to appear with other characters.”

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie stars Brie Larsen as Rosalina, Donald Glover as Luigi and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr., alongside the returning cast from the first film: Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek. The Pikmin will presumably play themselves.

How much will Miyamoto’s favorite garden creatures feature in the film? All will be revealed when The Super Mario Galaxy Movie lands in theaters on April 1.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social