Actor Charles Martinet is known by Super Mario Bros. fans as having been the voice of Mario since Super Mario 64. Sadly, Martinet has now announced his retirement from the role.
As revealed in an announcement via Nintendo, however, Martinet isn’t moving away from the character completely. In fact, he’s set to become the Mario Ambassador. This will be a brand-new role for him to participate in for the brand and one that should keep fans happy. As shared by a post made by Nintendo on Twitter:
“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador,” Nintendo begins. “With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all.”
Nintendo continued to celebrate Martinet and his role as the character:
“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him,” they continue. “Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023
Martinet responded to the statement in a rather appropriate manner. Using some of the character’s signature phrases, he replied with the following tweet:
“My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!”
It’s currently unknown who will take over for the voice of the character. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Super Mario Bros updates as we have them. Chris Pratt most recently voiced the character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, though Martinet had a cameo as the father of both Mario and Luigi. Additionally, Martinet has voiced the characters Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi in the past. It’s certainly a bittersweet moment for fans, but at least Charles Martinet will still stay involved with the fan community.