The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Bowser's Revenge

The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Bowser's Revenge, also called The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Fury Bowser's Wrath in some territories, is a 2025 computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on the Mario franchise. Produced by Universal Pictures, Illumination and Nintendo, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return as the film's directors. The film is the sequel to the original movie, in which Mario and luigi now citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, find out their cousins Wario and Waluigi, along with the Koopalings, are now working with Bowser, to kidnap Peach and be an all-powerful being.
The movie released in the United States and other countries on September 13, and in most other territories in September 20, 2025, received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its animation and voice acting, but criticized for its script. Audience reception was positive, though. The movie was rated similarly to its prequel. It was a commercial success, grossing a little over $1 billion worldwide, and $423 million in the US.
The movie was meant to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, hence the release date.
== Synopsis ==
Brothers Mario and Luigi, now residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, live peacefully, meeting up with Princess Peach frequently. However, trouble comes when Bowser avenges Wario and Waluigi, Bowser Jr., along with the Koopalings, and kidnap Peach, with plans to take over the world, will it all work out for the team?
== Plot ==
The movie starts with a short clip of the Yoshi egg in the sewers, cracking with a green Yoshi hatching out, and rushing into the green pipe.
One year after the events of the first film, plumbing brothers Mario and Luigi, now living in the Mushroom Kingdom, frequently meet up with Princess Peach, as they are praised by the Toads for saving the entire fate of the world. They soon have a vacation in Yoshi's Island, when suddenly the green Yoshi walks up to them. They are first concerned about keeping it as a pet, but later decide to, now reaching the Mushroom Kingdom. However, in the real world, Waluigi and Wario, the meaner cousins of the duo, after getting tired of the praise from his family of Mario and Luigi, decide that in order to ensure that Mario and Luigi don't come back forever, and stop them from any visits, decide to try and demolish the pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom, while coming out of the shower, with nudity covered by decorations. However, as they get into the sewers and try to succeed, they ultimately get sucked into the pipe and reach the Mushroom Forest.
With this, they go around Toad Town trying to find the truth to this strange land, decide to go to the castle, and meet Peach, along with their cousins, to their demise. Mario and Luigi are shocked at this, and tell the Princess that the two are their cousins. Peach decides to give them a tour of the castle, despite Mario and Luigi's protests, but as Wario and Waluigi are given a view of the jail room, they find a tiny Bowser in a cage, and feel sympathy, thinking he is a normal turtle, and demand Peach to let him free, but she refuses, attempting to convince that Bowser was the one causing the almost-fall of the world.
Wario and Waluigi, now given a free sleep at the castle, decide to sneak into the jail room, as they find Bowser. They tell him that they would let him free, as Bowser is excited. He uses the brothers' sympathy for his own gain, telling them to avenge a group of his smaller relatives, the Koopalings, and his son to stop Peach and her "terrifying regime to all turtles". With this, the brothers go to sleep, keeping Bowser and his cage near their bed. Wario and Waluigi are given a secret whistle that only Bowser's family can hear, even from far-off distances. With this, a scene is shown of the Koopalings running out of their homes, as Bowser Jr., in a decorated room, playing with toys, gets a message from some Boom Booms that Bowser would need his help.
In the morning, everyone wakes up, but when Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario and Waluigi come out of the castle, a horde of airships are seen outside. A clawed robot arm from one of the ships grab Peach and take her away, along with some Toads, leaving Mario and Luigi alone, as Wario and Waluigi are sent up a ladder from another one of the ships, leading into a flashback to Bowser telling them that they could escape to a far-off land. Waluigi shows his cage with Bowser and puts in his pocket.
The Toads are surprised, but one Toad, from the first film, convinces Mario and Luigi, along with Yoshi to save Peach and the Toads, and decide to go to the Kongo Jungle to invite Donkey Kong, who hesitantly agrees. Soon, the Kongo Jungle turns into apocalypse, as Banzai Bills and other evil gizmos crash into the area, destroying it, with the group luckily saved by Yoshi. The group escapes to to the Snow Kingdom, in which the Penguin King join him, with 3 of his most trusted bodyguards. However, to defeat Bowser and get through the obstacles of the Dark Land, Mario says they'll need more help, but rest in the Ice Castle for nighttime, until Bowser destroys it, with the King suggesting to go to Sarasaland.
Meanwhile, Bowser, out of the cage, tells the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. along with Wario and Waluigi to get the enlargement potion to grow him back to normal size. After success, he goes to the dungeon to find Peach, kidnapped, as he sings "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley to make everyone in the world's ears bleed. Then he orders his Kamek, his wizard, to now find his "special" potion, with its effects unknown to the viewer at first. Soon, Bowser prepares for the wedding, as he tells Peach about his second wedding plan.
The heroes soon reach Sarasaland, and soon enter a battle with some bandits sent by Bowser, known as Nabbits, until they are eventually beaten. Toad suggests to find Princess Daisy, who would have a formidable army to replace Peach's. In the Pyramid Castle, after being invited in as victims of Bowser's revenge, tell her the news, as she shows her army to the group. Meanwhile, Luigi falls in love with Daisy. With Daisy joining the team, they now go onto the do some training, such as treasure tracking, avoiding barrels, practicing Go-Karts and more, before going to Dark Land. They pass by Yoshi's Island, and other major places in the Mario franchise, soon reaching the Dark Land. Bowser is now seen being given the potion, apparently the mix of a Star, a Mega-Mushroom and a Fire Flower, as he is seen drinking it, with steam now coming out of the castle, as the group are now seen worried.
As the heroes come into the castle, they disguise themselves as Shy Guys and Koopas, however soon they are caught after joining one of Bowser's parties, as they accidentally reveal their true identities. Bowser, hidden from view, announces his revenge on the entire world. Mario and Luigi's group is now in a jail cell, as they see Peach on the other side, as they reassure each other. Peach is apparently marrying Bowser during midnight. They also find King Wart, former ruler of the Swamp Land, until Bowser somehow transformed it into the Dark Land. King Wart was apparently a minion of another evil character a long time ago, until he says that one day, he was sleeping and got sucked into some other world, where he tried to be a good leader of his land. He gives Mario a motivational message to go on, as Yoshi plans an escape plan, as he bites on the jail cell doors, breaking them until all of the group could get out.
Now on a secret mission, they let Peach out, as the guards are clueless about the escapes. King Wart tells them to let him stay in the cell, as he trusts in them. Soon, they reach the party once more, as Wario and Waluigi, dancing, spot them and warns Bowser, as he now comes into the screen, as a bigger, darker, monster, known as Fury Bowser, as he now steps on the party tables and decorations, moving towards the company, as they try to use power-ups to weaken him, but with no success, as they now run away, with Bowser ordering the Koopalings, Bowser Jr. Wario and Waluigi to seize them.
With a major battle in the Dark Land, the company and Bowser's army fight, with Banzai Bills, Goombas, Koopas, Wigglers, spherical Hippos and others joining the fight, as soon the battle ends up in Bowser's big airship, as Mario almost falls off battling Wario, but Peach saves him, as Mario realizes his love with Peach. Bowser Jr. is in his clown car as the party attempts to throw Mechakoopas to throw him out of the vehicle, as he falls to the ground, with Bowser almost shedding a tear. Mario also uses different power-ups, including the Elephant power-up. Meanwhile, the characters continue to fighting, until Bowser's dangerous attacks leave only Mario, Luigi and Yoshi left conscious. Yoshi suddenly does something that changes it though, as he sticks his tongue out to take items and spit them at enemies, leaving Bowser perplexed. Soon, it becomes a battle between the trio and Bowser, with all his minions on the ground, as he uses fire breath, but with the trio avoiding it, Bowser keeps stomping on the ground with fury, as he unleashes his last attack. which destroys the entire airship, as everyone is falling. Mario and Luigi, now getting as much powerups as possible, take out Bowser with one blow, as he turns back to normal, as all the characters now fall onto the ground, as Bowser is washed off with water, almost unconscious, as the characters lock him in a giant cage as he is sent into the returned back Swamp Land, as King Wart is overjoyed to reclaim his kingdom, as frogs, lizards, and Stingbies all come towards Wart. Wario and Waluigi are given to Mario and Luigi. Mario, now looking at Peach, confesses to her, as he is met with success, with Luigi confessing to Daisy and also succeeding.
With everyone returning back to their respective places, as Yoshi says its farewells to Mario, Luigi and Peach, Bowser's minions are now enjoying life in the Mushroom Kingdom, now free from the rule of Bowser, hoping to never see him again. Wario and Waluigi apologize to Mario, but hope that they can stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach accepts after whines from the duo, as Mario and Luigi and their dates are meanwhile prepared for another exciting day in their new world, with Wario and Waluigi with them, as the end credits begins.
The movie ends with two epilogues at the very end-- The first one is about a minute long. Bowser, in the cage, with the Koopalings and his son, talks about the new rule of King Wart, and saying how it turned the land dirty once again, as mud and moss fill up the prison. The second one is about three minutes long. Mario and Luigi are visiting their parents with Peach and Daisy, as soon, their parents suddenly realize that they are both humans from the real world, as the daughters of some family friends. Suddenly, it zooms into space, as in a ship, Princess Rosalina is seen, saying, "There's a lot of galaxies out there, but who said you can't enter the rest?"
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Development of the new film was announced in December 13, 2023, from the Nintendo twitter account, with an image, showing a theater with the logo of the new movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Bowser's Revenge, with the captions, "Bowser's gettin' his revenge. Bigger, and better." Soon, a day later, there was an official announcement from Illumination to confirm the new movie, as it would be planned to be released in March 2025, but later delayed in 2024 due to production issues. In June 1, 2024, a teaser was released, which showed the vacation scene at the start of the movie. It was about 2 minutes long, and cut out the part with Yoshi. In August 12, 2024, another teaser released, showing the 3 minute scene of Wario and Waluigi trying to destroy the pipe in the sewers. In December 26, 2024, the vacation scene, but now with the Yoshi appearance in, was also released, being 4 minutes long. Soon, in April 11, 2025, an official trailer was released. In June 20, 2025, there were more clips released of the movie, and merch could also be pre-ordered, as some ads sponsored by Nintendo, animated by Illumination for certain companies would be aired on television, and up until the end of the running of the film in theaters worldwide. 
=== Writing ===
Writing began on March 2, 2024, with the script completed in January 9, 2025.
=== Casting ===
Casting began on April 2024, and ended on the same month. Most characters reprised their original roles, with new roles being revealed on May of the same year.
=== Animation ===
Animation was animated by Illumination Studios. It started on March 2024, and ended in May, 2025. The studio stated that "with new technologies used for this new movie, we're happy to say that they have taken the animation to lengths we have never seen before in our history." Character designs were changed slightly, however, along with certain objects.
=== Music ===
The music was mainly instrumental, although there were a few songs with lyrics, including songs from other artists. There were more orchestra songs, according to Nintendo, to "have a more grand feel to a few scenes that deserve it."
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
The movie was a commercial success, grossing $1.105 billion throughout its two-month time in theaters.
=== Critical response ===
The movie received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes rated the movie a 68%, as it says, "While The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2: Bowser's Revenge might be a bit barebones with its plot, it can sure be considered fan service for Mario lovers." Audience reviews were more positive, with a 92% approval score. The movie had a 67% rating on Metacritic, and a 8.7/10 rating score on IMDb. It received a 3/5 rating on Common Sense Media. It received an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature in 2025.
== Soundtrack ==
The soundtrack was critically acclaimed, and it was released on DVD in the US in October 2, 2025.
== Rating ==
This movie is rated PG for some mild language, brief nudity, mild action and cartoon violence. Some language includes "idiot", "stupid", "dang", "darn" and one use of "damn", one use of "hell" and one use of "crap". There is some brief nudity when Wario and Waluigi come out of the shower, almost seen naked, mainly for laughs. There's also many scenes in which Wario's buttcrack is barely shown above his pants, also for laughs. There is action mostly in the battle scenes, with cartoon violence occurring throughout the film, some played for laughs, some paired with the battle scenes. In Common Sense Media, it is rated 8+, stating, "Adventure about famous game characters might be a bit too risqué for younger kids."
== Future ==
Nintendo announced that a Nintendo Cinematic Universe would be possible, as King Wart was introduced in this film, a character also in Zelda. Possible spin-offs have been proposed, such as a Donkey Kong Country film as a prequel to the original movie. A Luigi's Mansion film has been confirmed to release in 2028, with a Zelda movie by DreamWorks confirmed for 2027, and was also confirmed a while after to be the first link to the NCU.