Voice of Mario Steps Back after 27 Years

After 27 years of portraying the beloved Italian plumber for Nintendo, Charles Martinet is stepping down from his position as Mario’s voice actor. The 67-year-old actor created the part in the 1996 video game “Super Mario 64,” giving life to Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi in addition to Mario.

Martinet has been promoted to the position of “Mario ambassador,” according to a statement issued on Twitter by Nintendo, formerly known as X. Even though he won’t be doing character voiceovers for video games anymore, Mario will still continue to tour the globe and interact with fans.

Fans have been speculating about Martinet’s disappearance from the next game “Super Mario Bros. Wonder,” with some spotting a different voice in advertising videos. The announcement comes at the same time as those rumors. Martinet did not voice Mario in the new game, according to Nintendo, but the identity of the replacement voice actor is still a secret.

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Martinet praised his supporters and shared his excitement for his upcoming journey, saying, “You are all Numba One in my heart!” This information comes in the wake of Martinet’s departure from the 2023 animated feature “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” in which Chris Pratt and Charlie Day provided the voices for Mario.

Martinet has voiced roles in numerous video games during his career, such as “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” and “Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time.” He once acknowledged that he got the idea for Mario’s voice from a character in Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”

As the gaming industry celebrates the end of an era and the start of a new chapter in the world of Mario, fans can look forward to a special video greeting from Charles Martinet and video game inventor Shigeru Miyamoto.