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Super Mario Bros. star Seth Rogen wants Fast and Furious style 'Kong Dynasty' spin-off

Seth Rogen wants to remind everyone that Donkey Kong is a spin-off of Mario

Kim Taylor-Foster
·4-min read

Watch: Seth Rogen shares hopes for future Donkey Kong movies

Super Mario Bros. Movie star Seth Rogen wants an eeyore-some Donkey Kong spin-off that channels the Fast and Furious franchise should the new animated video game adaptation prove successful enough to spawn more films.

Rogen voices Nintendo gorilla Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which the titular plumbing brothers, Mario and Luigi, are voiced by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day.

In the video games, Donkey Kong is usually an antagonist to Mario’s protagonist but has been known to team up with the plumber on occasion – including in the movie. Albeit reluctantly.

Read more: Who's who in The Super Mario Bros. Movie?

“I would love to,” Rogen tells Yahoo UK when asked if he wants to explore Donkey Kong further. “You know, Mario is a spin-off of Donkey Kong.

"I more see it as a return to Donkey Kong and finally cutting out all this Mario nonsense that people have been focusing on too much.”

Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. (Universal/Illumination)
Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. (Universal/Illumination)

Donkey Kong’s debut was in his self-titled arcade game released in 1981, in which Mario was the hero players controlled. Since then, there have been video game sequels starring the gorilla as well as a franchise relaunch in 1994 with Donkey Kong Country, and various spin-offs. The character has also, of course, popped up in numerous Mario adventures.

“Everything's on the table with Donkey Kong,” says Rogen. “That's why [a spin-off] is a good idea.”

So what would Rogen want to happen? Keeping some ideas close to his chest in case he actually gets to make a Donkey Kong film, the actor does respond to a suggestion of The Kong Dynasty, inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s announced upcoming superhero team-up, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 01: Seth Rogen attends a Special Screening of Universal Pictures'
Seth Rogen attends a Special Screening of Universal Pictures' The Super Mario Bros. Movie. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“I like it. I like the wordplay, as a fan of puns. I see what you're doing,” he says. “There's a whole Donkey Kong Country, so there could be a lot of Kong mythology [in it]. The Kong family…it could focus really on the Kong family. People love family movies – you know, like Fast and Furious. So it could be like that. It could be with their go-karts. Like a Donkey Kong Fast and Furious kind of family-based action drama.”

Read more: Everything we know about Fast X

He adds — with a laugh — that Vin Diesel, who stars in the Fast and Furious franchise, “kinda looks like a Kong already.”

Anya Taylor-Joy, meanwhile, who voices Princess Peach in the film, is also keen for a spin-off for her character.

(from left) Mario (Chris Pratt), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. (Universal/Illumination)
Mario (Chris Pratt), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. (Universal/Illumination)

“I would love to [explore Peach further]. I love this world; I love the collaborators, I had such a good time, I’d love to. Wherever they want to go with it, I hope I’m along for the ride.”

Read more: How the first Mario film flopped but became a cult classic

If she were to find herself included in Rogen’s proposed Fast and Furious-style go-kart movie, “along for the ride” is particularly apt. Peach is typically known in the video game franchise as being the damsel-in-distress that needs rescuing but in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the roles are flipped and she becomes rescuer to Luigi. This makes her a really strong proposition for her own solo movie.

“It would be interesting if her biggest nemesis was herself,” says Taylor-Joy of a possible Princess Peach spin-off film. “If there was a Dark Peach, I’d love that. That would be really, really cool. I’m thinking about the outfits that would be presented here and I’m like, ‘Ooh, yeah, that’s cool!’”

Mia Goth and Anya Taylor-Joy take a stroll in a still from <i>Emma</i>. (Focus Features)
Mia Goth and Anya Taylor-Joy take a stroll in a still from Emma. (Focus Features)

There is a character in the video game franchise known commonly as False Peach, an evil version of Princess Peach. She’s a copy of the real Peach created by Shadow Bugs.

“Oh hell, yeah! I’m so down for that,” says Taylor-Joy.

And she’s got the perfect casting suggestion.

“I’m really good friends with Mia Goth, so it would be fun to do that together. We’ve done two movies together already and I just adore her, so it would be fun to do it together,” she says.

Given that Goth has plenty of edgy roles under her belt and is coming off the back of success in horror hits X, Pearl, and the recent Infinity Pool, it’s difficult to think of a more appropriate actor to play the role.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is released in UK cinemas on 5 April. Watch a trailer below.