Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto wasn’t sure how his colleagues would react when Illumination proposed bringing Star Fox into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. As it turns out, he didn’t need to worry.
Speaking to Forbes, Miyamoto revealed that the idea of including Fox McCloud initially seemed like a long shot. Nintendo has historically been cautious about blending its franchises, rarely allowing different IPs to cross over outside of special cases.
“When I got the proposal from Chris [Meledandri, Illumiation CEO and producer] about including Star Fox, from Nintendo’s perspective, we tend to avoid mixing IPs—aside from a small Pikmin cameo,” Miyamoto explained.
StarFox in Super Mario Galaxy Movie/Illumination, Nintendo
Despite that hesitation, the outer space setting of the film made the idea hard to ignore.
“As the creator of Star Fox, and with this movie taking place in space, I wanted to see what it would be like,” he said. “At the same time, I expected there might be significant internal resistance.”
Miyamoto even began quietly advocating for the idea within Nintendo—but was surprised by the response.
“I found that a lot of people saw real potential in it and were excited to see what would come out of it.”
Glen Powell Campaigned for the Role of Fox McCloud
The enthusiasm didn’t stop at Nintendo. Actor Glen Powell, who ultimately voices Fox McCloud in the sequel, actively pursued the role before it was even publicly known.
According to Meledandri, Powell personally reached out after the first film wrapped.
“After the first movie, we received calls from actors who were incredibly passionate about working with Nintendo—and one of them was Glen Powell,” Meledandri said. “He told us how deeply he loved Fox McCloud and that it was his dream to be part of a Star Fox movie.”
What made the moment remarkable was the timing: Powell had no idea that discussions about including Star Fox were already underway.
“I’m sitting there thinking, ‘he has no idea Miyamoto-san and I are already talking about this,’” Meledandri recalled. “And yet he’s expressing exactly that passion.”
Were you surprised at the inclusion of Star Fox in Super Mario Galaxy Movie? Do you think Star Fox’s appearance and Donkey Kong’s appearance in the first film might eventually pave the way for a Super Smash Bros. movie?
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