Shigeru Miyamoto has opened up about Nintendo's long-standing uncertainty over the connection between Princess Peach and Rosalina, a mystery that the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now prepared to solve.
During an interview with Forbes, the legendary game designer reflected on the original Super Mario Galaxy's development, when director Yoshiaki Koizumi worked on the game's story largely in isolation. Miyamoto and Koizumi engaged in extensive discussions about the two princesses' actual relationship and how it might tie into the game's space-themed setting, but the pair never reached a definitive conclusion.
"We had this vague idea about what their actual relationship could be, and how it would play into the concept of space," Miyamoto explained. "We had a lot of discussion about this, but we never came to a conclusion."
That unresolved creative thread has now become an opportunity. Miyamoto confirmed that the filmmaking team decided to finally develop these half-formed ideas into something concrete. "So we decided that let's take this opportunity to give this idea some meat and get into the specificity of it, and we had a lot of fun having this discussion back and forth," he said.
The original game deliberately left Rosalina's origins ambiguous, though devoted players have long speculated about a familial bond between the two characters—a theory the film appears ready to validate.
Bringing Fox McCloud into the Galaxy
The movie also marks the franchise's first major surprise casting announcement: Star Fox's Fox McCloud will appear in the film. The idea originated with animation studio Illumination rather than Nintendo, but it struck a chord with Miyamoto.
"As the creator of Star Fox and this movie taking place in space, I felt that I wanted to see that," Miyamoto said. He initially suspected the proposal might face internal pushback at Nintendo, so he began what he termed "lobbying activity" to build support for the concept.
The effort paid off. "However, I was surprised to find that a lot of people saw a lot of potential with it and were really excited to see what would come out of this," Miyamoto noted.
Actor Glen Powell, who voices Fox in the film, has a remarkable backstory tied to the casting. Illumination president Chris Meledandri revealed that Powell had independently pitched himself for a standalone Star Fox movie, unaware that Nintendo and Illumination were already discussing his involvement in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
"[Powell] explained that we had to understand how deeply he loved the character of Fox McCloud," Meledandri recounted. "His dream was one day to be part of a Star Fox movie. I'm listening to this going, 'he has no idea that Miyamoto-san and I are talking about Star Fox being in this new movie,' and Glen is expressing this passion for this."
The actor's enthusiasm apparently clinched the role, with his genuine love for the character aligning perfectly with what the production team envisioned.
Miyamoto also hinted at a larger roadmap for Nintendo's cinematic ambitions. "I will say that the team that's working on the movie, including the actors, there are a lot of Mario fans," he said. "From them, there are a lot of ideas about wanting to use different characters, almost to the point that we couldn't fit everything in. So we're really looking forward to creating more films."
The remark suggests Nintendo intends to develop multiple Mario-universe movies beyond this Galaxy entry, with more characters and franchises waiting in the wings for adaptation. Star Fox's inclusion may be just the beginning of a broader strategy to integrate Nintendo's broader universe into film.
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