The Super Mario Bros. Movie Gives A Major Nod To 1998s Godzilla
The following article contains spoilers for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."
"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" keeps things relatively grounded for the Italian plumber, or at least as grounded as it can for a story that takes place in a Mushroom Kingdom where hitting a box gives characters extraordinary abilities. It's a fairly straightforward story of Bowser (Jack Black) attempting to marry Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and take over all the lands of this world, but there are plenty of places for a follow-up to go.
In the games, Mario and his cohorts have traveled across the galaxy, explored new lands, and used a cap to take over a dinosaur. The sky's the limit as far as sequels are concerned, and the movie offers some hints as to where Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) could go next. One of these clues lies in the post-credits scene. After Mario and his team have defeated Bowser and saved both the Mushroom Kingdom and Brooklyn, the brothers go about living in this new world. But they may not be done with their old home yet, as the scene takes viewers through the underground before landing on a green-spotted egg that belongs to none other than Mario's partner, Yoshi.
It's a fun nod to Mario eventually getting his dino-friend he rides on and, at certain points, jumps off of so that he can reach other platforms, making Yoshi fall to his demise. The sequel likely won't have that exactly, but eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed something familiar about the scene and how it offers some parallels to 1998's "Godzilla" of all movies.
Baby Godzillas are kind of like Yoshis
It's not the first Yoshi hint to pop up in the film. When Mario, Peach, and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) travel across various lands to reach the Jungle Kingdom, they pass a herd of roaming Yoshis. However, one can surmise the one in the egg at the end of the film will become the green one most closely associated with Mario. And the character receives a fitting tribute with a scene pulled straight out of the ending of 1998 "Godzilla."
At the conclusion of that movie, after humanity has defeated the giant monster, the camera guides the viewer through some of the destruction, landing at one of Godzilla's eggs. It hatches, and a baby Godzilla emerges, roaring from its pod. Unfortunately, viewers don't get to see the green Yoshi hatch at this point in time. However, as the screen cuts to black, Yoshi does emit its signature high-pitched roar of "Yoshi!"
Yoshi's inclusion at the end of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" could hint at where a sequel could head. Yoshi was initially Mario's companion in "Super Mario World," where Mario and Luigi go on a vacation to Dinosaur Land with Princess Toadstool, who's kidnapped by Bowser. It could make for an interesting development with the brothers exploring new areas of this world.
Hopefully, a Mario sequel actually comes to fruition
The baby Godzilla hatching from its egg was actually supposed to set up a sequel to the monster flick. In fact, 1998's "Godzilla" was supposed to set up an entire trilogy, with the second installment following that Godzilla growing up and forming an attachment to Matthew Broderick's character from the first film, causing him to track the creature to the South Pacific. Additionally, that baby Godzilla would've been all grown up with a brood of its own, wreaking all sorts of havoc. Unfortunately, the negative critical reaction to the first "Godzilla" made Sony wary of pursuing a follow-up, and it never materialized.
Alas, 1998's "Godzilla" joins a long list of films with sequel set-ups that never paid off. Hopefully, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" doesn't fall into that camp. While the "Mario" movie received a rather tepid reception from critics, it's expected to do extremely well at the box office. It's expected to make roughly $225 million worldwide in its opening weekend, and if the numbers stay strong like that, it shouldn't be long until Mario's united with his noble dinosaur steed on the big screen.