Super Mario Movie Gives Princess Peach a Fire Flower PowerUp

A new promo for The Super Mario Bros. Movie shows Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) testing out her Fire Flower power-up.

Shared to the official Super Mario Bros. Movie Instagram account, the short animated clip opens with Princess Peach in her usual, pink dress. She then touches a Fire Flower, which not only puts the power of flames at her fingertips, but also gives her regal dress a white-and-red palette swap. Peach then pitches a fireball at the viewer as the promo comes to an end.

Fans first caught a glimpse of The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s Princess Peach using the Fire Flower in the film’s official trailer, which dropped back in November. While the iconic power-up has been at Mario and his brother Luigi’s disposal since the video game Super Mario Bros. launched for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, the upcoming animated film marks only the second time Peach has used the Fire Flower in an official Mario project. The first and, to date, only video game in which Peach is able to use the Fire Flower is Super Mario 3D World, which originally released for the Wii U in 2013 before getting an enhanced port on the Nintendo Switch in 2021.

Much like how the Fire Flower has always given characters like Mario and Luigi a palette swap, when Peach gets the power-up in Super Mario 3D World, her pink dress turns into a white and red one, just like the version seen in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. That said, the “Fire Peach” dress isn’t the only alternate outfit the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom will wear in upcoming animated film. The official trailer also shows a battle-ready Peach sporting the white and pink racing suit she wears when driving a motorcycle in the racing games Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8.

Princess Peach Doesn’t Need Saving in the Mario Movie

Notably, Peach is not the damsel in distress in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Rather, the character who needs saving from the villainous Bowser (Jack Black) is Luigi (Charlie Day). “[Luigi] takes the Princess Peach role in our story,” co-director Aaron Horvath previously explained to Total Film Magazine. “It’s Mario’s goal to save his brother from Bowser’s clutches. He has to go on this epic adventure to do that. So Luigi, who’s a famously nervous, anxious character, finds himself in the worst possible predicament: having to survive interrogations with Bowser, and make it through that gauntlet.”

Additionally, Hovarth actually cited aforementioned Super Mario 3D World as influencing the film’s depiction of Princess Peach, who is portrayed as a hero in her own right. “She’s the monarch who leads this kingdom of hapless, adorable Toads,” the co-director said. “We were thinking how strong that person would need to be to protect those people. All that informed the idea for Peach’s character in our movie.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Hits Theaters in April

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is slated to premiere in the United States on Wednesday, April 5 before making its way to Japan on Friday, April 28. The film stars Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario himself, with the Guardians of the Galaxy star taking over the role that has long been occupied by Charles Martinet and was once occupied by the late, great Captain Lou Albano. The fast-approaching animated feature also stars the voices of Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong​​​​​​​, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike​​​​​​​, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek​​​​​​​ and Khary Payton​​​​​​​ as the Penguin King. Additionally, Eric Bauza voices an undisclosed character, while the aforementioned Martinet will make “surprise cameos” throughout the film. As previously mentioned, Taylor-Joy, Day and Black star as Princess Peach, Luigi and Bowser, respectively.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opens in theaters in the United States on April 5.

Source: Instagram