You read the title of this article, and I know it's something you've all thought about at least once. And with Nintendo doing more cinematic work, it's only natural to wonder what a Smash Bros movie would look like? It's easy to imagine something like the Avengers and the MCU, but would it be that simple? So, let’s figure out what challenges any future director would face if they ever decide to make a Smash Bros movie.
First we need to talk about the approach it’ll take. Do you follow the MCU where you make a bunch of standalone movies that build up to a big crossover? Certainly a sound idea but trying to shoehorn in crossover elements risks taking away from the movies’ standalone aspects. A Zelda movie should revolve around the Triforce, not a Smash Ball for example. I’m quite fond of using tv shows to build up to a Smash Bros. movie, similar to the DC animated Universe. Of course, then you risk overlapping with the movies you do have or taking away from potential movie plans. For example, would they make a Metroid movie if they were already using Samus in a show? A safer approach could be something completely standalone, arguably more true to Smash Bros. as a series itself. Let the characters be trophies who just exist together, like they already do in Smash.
A story inspired by Xenoblade 3 would work very well for this setting. For those who haven't played Xenoblade 3, that game tells a story of two warring nations who have been manipulated into fighting each other by another faction called Mobius. Mobius essentially treating the people of Xenoblade 3 like playthings for their own amusement. Replace Mobius with Master Hand, Tabuu or even Galeem and Darkon, and you have the makings of a good story.
Another story idea would be to take a TV show approach. Establish these worlds first with dedicated TV shows and then have them come together for a big movie. Bowser and Ganondorf seek out Mewtwo to help them in their conquest. Mewtwo gets manipulated into doing evil and battles with Ness. R.O.B. would serve as the Nick Fury of the Super Smash Bros. A bounty on Bowser and Ganondorf could be what tells our heroes where they are. The original 12 serve as a very solid foundation for a superhero team. Mario easily brings in his extended cast and the setting lets you bring in the Pokémon.
And those are just two possible examples. There's a limitless amount of potential story ideas they could work with
And then you have questions like what kind of art style would work best. Would it be animated or live action? Is it believable that the live action Link is the same as the animated Link if they decide to connect what they’ve already made? And then there’s the tone and genre. Would the family friendly and silly Mario work alongside a more mature and adult Link? Are we aiming for something more comedic or dramatic? It’s a difficult balance that works in Smash Bros. because it barely has any story.
It's also worth bringing up the actual IPs in Smash. Stuff like Animal Crossing and Wii Fit don’t lend themselves well to what is essentially a big superhero crossover. Then you have the large amount of silent protagonists and avatar characters. And some franchises have a boatload of heroes, like if we include Fire Emblem, are we going to have Marth, Ike, Chrom or Byleth? Or is cinematic Fire Emblem a weird mishmash of all of them? Though really, these are all minor concerns anyway. Part of adapting a material for film, is to make changes so that it works in the new medium. Smash Bros would need an original story anyway so creative liberties are required.
There is however another barrier that we need to consider. And that’s the legal side of things. You know how Hulk never got a standalone movie again in the MCU? The reason generally believed for this is that Universal Studios produced the original Hulk movies. And, they assumedly retained the distribution rights to the character even after Disney bought Marvel. Each of Nintendo’s cinematic movies have been handled by different studios. Illumination made Mario, Legendary Pictures made Detective Pikachu and Sony is making Zelda. Depending on how the contracts were done, it might be difficult using some of these characters in movies under different studios. Though given how protective Nintendo is, I imagine they would make sure they had the control needed.
And that’s not even going into ownership of the game IPs themselves. As I said, Nintendo is very protective and would have so many demands to follow. And what if Game Freak or HAL wants no part of a Smash Bros. movie? Do we want a Smash lineup that consists of just Mario, Link, Inkling and Villager? And that’s not even mentioning the likes of Sega, Capcom and Namco. Licensing everything out to the game is already tricky enough and a lot of that falls on to the trust of Sakurai. Now try getting all that brought to a movie with a company as protective as Nintendo. They made the Mario movie with Miyamoto there for every step of the process, will we need Sakamoto looking over how you incorporate Samus? Even just the music could be tricky if you want to use the scores from the game. Who would even be in charge of it? And would Sakurai need to become involved?
In conclusion, while I do firmly believe it’s possible, it would be a logistical nightmare that needs to be planned ahead with competent people in charge. The Mario movie was fun, but it’s hardly the beginning of a grand cinematic universe. I do think there is merit to doing something purely standalone though, even if that would be less exciting than a big grand crossover.
Credits:
Writing:
NintenRob
Editing: @Zerp
Thumbnail Graphic: @Zerp
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