Anya Taylor-Joy captivated audiences as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in Netflix’s 2020 miniseries The Queen’s Gambit. Her performance balanced poise with emotional depth, creating a character whose story and presence have lingered with viewers long after the series ended. Even years later, the role remains especially memorable — more so than her appearances in action-packed franchises, including Fox’s Marvel superhero film The New Mutants.
Though Taylor-Joy’s remarkable range and phenomenal acting have earned widespread admiration, one role in particular won the hearts of families everywhere. This sci-fi film revealed a fresh comedic side of her talent, adding another dimension to her on-screen performances. It also became one of the greatest animated achievements of all time, the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2026.
What film could we possibly be talking about? The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, of course. And it’s coming to Netflix later this month on Nov. 30.
What is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie about?
Directed by the creative minds behind Teen Titans Go! (Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a thrilling action-comedy based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise (created by Shigeru Miyamoto) and produced by Illumination and Nintendo.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also serves as the sequel to the original 2023 film, which followed Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) on their first arrival in the Mushroom Kingdom. This time, though, the Mario brothers embark on a galaxy-spanning adventure. Set some time after their victory over Bowser (Jack Black), whom they’ve shrunk and are trying to rehabilitate, Mario and Luigi are enjoying life as the Mushroom Kingdom’s saviors.
But things take a turn for the worse when they discover that Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) has been kidnapped by Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie). As it turns out, Bowser Jr. is still pretty steamed because Mario and Luigi beat his father and shrank him down to run around in a cage like a particularly thorny hamster.
The downside is that Bowser Jr. hasn’t just tossed Rosalina into a castle down the road for Mario and Luigi to rescue. Bowser Jr. has taken Rosalina somewhere much harder to reach: a vast, nearly empty region of the universe known as space.
Fortunately, they have a whole lot of luck on their side. (And a new ally in Yoshi, voiced by Donald Glover.) Together, they face the challenge of getting Rosalina back. Will they succeed? Watch and find out for yourselves.
Who stars in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?
One of the most exciting things about this action-packed sequel is that several stars return to reprise their roles, including Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.
Below is the full cast of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
- Mario – Chris Pratt
- Luigi – Charlie Day
- Princess Peach – Anya Taylor-Joy
- Princess Rosalina – Brie Larson
- Bowser – Jack Black
- Bowser Jr. – Benny Safdie
- Toad – Keegan-Michael Key
- Yoshi – Donald Glover
- Fox McCloud – Glen Powell
- Wart – Luis Guzmán
- Honey Queen – Issa Rae
- Kamek – Kevin Michael Richardson
Was The Super Mario Galaxy Movie successful?
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is widely considered a success. In June this year, it crossed a major milestone, grossing more than $1 billion at the global box office. Sure, it isn’t quite as successful as its predecessor film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but an animated movie raking in over a billion dollars is nothing to turn your nose up at.
Though it did well commercially, critics weren’t as enamored with Illumination’s second outing in the Mario universe. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave The Super Mario Galaxy Movie one out of five stars, and likened it to a “bland screensaver of a movie that’s actually worse than AI”, whereas Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent scored the film two out of five, calling it “a joke-free sequel that doubles down on its own blandness.”
Polygon’s own review was much more favorable, with reviewer Michael McWhertor praising the film for taking “some welcome swings at diverse animation styles.”
Still, if you’re expecting emotional or mature depth from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it may not be the film for you.
Will there be a sequel to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?
Given how commercially successful The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was, and that Nintendo has 45 years of Mario content to draw from, we would be more surprised if a sequel wasn’t in the works.
The movie’s post-credit scene also revealed yet another beloved Nintendo character, just as The Super Mario Bros. Movie did. If Nintendo doesn’t expand on that, we’ll eat our hats.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is currently streaming on Peacock and arrives on Netflix on Nov. 30.
