For nearly 30 years, actor Charles Martinet was the voice of Nintendo’s most iconic character: Mario. He also lent vocals to Luigi, Wario, and others. When Nintendo confirmed in August that Martinet had essentially retired from that role, fans became fixated on who would voice the “mama mia”s in the franchise’s next game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
For any other game, that level of interest in one character’s voice would be outsized, but for this one it meant fans pored over a one-second clip ahead of the game’s release, saying “Wonder” in an effort to suss out Martinet’s involvement.
Mario and Martinet have been intrinsically intertwined since his first role in