Charles Martinet, who’s voiced Mario in every Super Mario game since Super Mario 64, is retiring from his role, but not from Mario. Nintendo of America made the announcement on Twitter and said that Martinet will continue as a Mario Ambassador around the world.
Martinet also voiced Luigi, Wario, and several other characters in the Mario universe.
“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time,” Nintendo said in the announcement. “Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue traveling the world and sharing the joy of Mario with you all!”
A Nintendo representative told GameSpot that Martinet did not provide the voice of Mario for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which confirmed what some fans had speculated since the trailer first debuted in the June Nintendo Direct.
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
Prior to the Super Mario Bros movie’s release, Martinet responded to rumors about him stepping down by saying he never wanted to stop.
“I want to voice Mario until I drop dead,” Martinet said at the time. “If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else.”
Nintendo didn’t say whether Martinet’s retirement is tied to his health. The Big N also didn’t say what the newly-created role of Mario Ambassador actually entails, though since Martinet regularly appeared at conventions and other celebrations to represent Mario, it’ll likely involve much of the same thing.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder and its fabulous cover art launch for Nintendo Switch on Oct. 20, 2023.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
