Nintendo insists that there is no such thing as the “Nintendo Cinematic Universe.” The facts suggest otherwise.

Fox McCloud in a Mario movie, Yoshi voiced by Donald Glover and the post-credits scenes pointing directly to other Nintendo games. ‘Super Mario Galaxy: The Movie’ sweeps the box office with 372 million dollars in its first global weekend, but Nintendo still does not confirm that we are facing a “cinematic universe.” However, Marvel’s precedent is more than obvious.

The figures. With 372 million dollars in its first weekend worldwide (188 million in the United States), we have a start only slightly below its precedent, which reached 387.8 million in five days. But the bombshell is indisputable: the only animated franchises with more than one installment with opening weekends above $100 million are DreamWorks’ ‘Shrek’, Illumination’s own ‘Despicable Me’ and Disney’s ‘Frozen’. Mario is also the only one that has exceeded 350 million with two deliveries. And there is still Japan.

Fat cameo. But let’s analyze some very relevant elements of the film. A week before the premiere, Universal revealed that Fox McCloud, protagonist of the ‘Star Fox’ saga, had a relevant role in the sequel, and it would not be a mere cameo, but a character with his own narrative arcwhose presence in the Mario universe is justified argumentatively with a certain coherence, drawing on the always loving parallel universes. By the way, Glen Powell, who provides his voice, entered the movie after calling the production company to tell them that if a Star Fox movie was ever made, he wanted to be there. Something similar happened with the presence of Donald Glover, voice of Yoshi after asking the production company to participate “in any way” in a Nintendo film.

Intersecting IPs. The fact is that Miyamoto had no initial intention of crossing Mario with ‘Star Fox’, since as he told Forbeshad to remind Illumination that Nintendo IPs don’t mix. But he made an exception, saying that “as the creator of ‘Star Fox’ and this movie being set in space, I wanted to see that. I wanted to see what would turn out. But I also sensed that there might be significant resistance internally.” That is, it had to be worked on at Nintendo, but it was achieved. And it is a more important step than it seems, because it opens the door to not having a Mario Universe, but an entire Nintendo Universe.

More cameos: Donkey Kong. Another example of a Nintendo character that points to a larger universe than the one we glimpse here. Although he was one of the most celebrated characters in the first film, here only appears in the background in a sequence starring Yoshi in New York, causing destruction in a half-built building, like in the old days. The truth is that in July 2025, Nintendo and Universal registered a project described as “Untitled Donkey Kong Project”. Seth Rogen, who voices the character, stated after the first film that he saw “a lot of opportunity” for a spin-off set in the world of ‘Donkey Kong Country’.

Universe, but without going overboard. In recent interviews Miyamoto has openly stated: “I don’t think we’re going to have a situation like ‘Super Smash Bros.’ where all the Nintendo characters come together.” From Illumination they confirm that the creative process has nothing to do with a team of strategists with graphics on the wall planning ten years of narrative crossover, in clear reference to the MCU: “Our process is very different. It arises from conversations about what would be funny in a specific scene.” The mention of Pikmin appearing in a sequence because it’s just cool is a good example of that approach.

Marvel’s mirror. But although Nintendo has no intention of following in all of Marvel’s footsteps, the parallels are indisputable, especially with the process that was followed between 2008 and 2012 to propose the MCU. Some examples:

• A popular secondary character becomes the protagonist in later installments: Black Widow, secondary in ‘Iron Man 2’, or Scarlet Witch, presented in ‘Winter Soldier’, or Nick Fury, built cameo by cameo.
• A dormant IP is rehabilitated with a cameo in a successful franchise: Doctor Strange, a comic book character for very coffee lovers, appears as a mere wink mentioned in ‘Winter Soldier’; Black Panther, barely known outside of the comics, is supporting in ‘Civil War’ and soon got his own movie; and Spider-Man was known but his franchise was worn out and he was rehabilitated since ‘Civil War’.

• Quietly Registered Copyright: Marvel and Disney have a documented history of registering trademarks for characters long before announcing projects. They recorded ‘She-Hulk’, ‘Ms. Marvel’ and ‘Moon Knight’ or ‘Eternals’ as brands years before confirming the Disney+ series and movies. The same pattern as the “Untitled Donkey Kong Project”.
• Post-credits scenes as de facto advertisements: Continuously. The original was Nick Fury and the Avengers Initiative in ‘Iron Man’. ‘Thor’ ends by showing the Tesseract, thus announcing the Thanos saga. ‘Ant-Man’ closes with a scene where Steve Rogers and Bucky appear in a situation that only makes sense if you’re already producing ‘Civil War.’ Thanos at the end of ‘Avengers’ appears for three seconds, does not speak, and his presence retroactively turns the entire film into a prologue.

The difference between both companies is that Marvel ends up putting Kevin Feige on stage at Comic-Con to explain the plans for the next ten years. Nintendo lets fans guess and then Miyamoto denies it. Marvel announced its multiverse early on, with dates, and Nintendo hasn’t even suggested that anything like a Nintendoverse exists. However, anyone who comes out of watching ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ wonders what the next episode will be.

In Xataka | Japan hates its most devious tourist trap: the Super Mario karts that refuse to die