The Super Mario Galaxy Movie finally takes its focus away from the Mushroom Kingdom to explore the vast galaxy that the universe has to offer. Princess Peach (Anya Taylor Joy) first teased in The Super Mario Bros. Movie by saying, “There’s a huge universe out there, with a lot of galaxies.” Now we’re here: Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) has been princessnapped by Bowser Jr (Benny Safdie), and we’ve got Mario and the gang to the rescue. Who makes an appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie? What revelations are discovered, and what are the post-credit scenes?

Does Fox McCloud Have A Major Role?

Before The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was released, a poster featuring Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) was revealed, with Powell’s casting being announced the following day. Fans were hoping that this could’ve been kept a secret, but Fox is not just any mere Easter egg or cameo that has been dropped into the film. He’s a supporting character that actually has a major role in the movie.

When Princess Peach and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) thwart Wart (Luis Guzmán) and find out where Bowser Jr. is keeping Princess Rosalina hostage, they make their way to the information booth, where they meet R.O.B., who tells them the direction to the flight deck, where they will find a pilot. Although it takes a laughably long time for R.O.B. to tell them, they finally get the directions and head towards the Flight Deck. Keep your eyes peeled because there are a few Easter eggs here, from Samus’ Gunship to the Pikmin’s S.S. Dolphin making an appearance.

They ask around if anyone will fly them to the Space Junk Galaxy but are turned down at every request until they come across Fox McCloud himself. We then get a beautiful and stylistic 2D animated sequence of Fox McCloud introducing himself as he explains he’s part of the “legendary” Star Fox team that features Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi, and Slippy Toad. One day, his warp drive exploded, which blew a giant hole in the fabric of space and time, getting him sucked into a different universe, explaining how he’s even in a Super Mario film.

Fox agrees to take Peach and Todd to the Space Junk Galaxy for a hefty price, and just in time, Mario, Luigi (Charlie Day) and Yoshi (Donald Glover) arrive, and they all head off. They get into a galactic battle with Bowser (Jack Black) and Bowser Jr. which they lose as Mario and Luigi are turned into babies, leading them to crash into Fossil Falls. Fox struggles to get his ship repaired, but luckily for them, the Lumas received a transmission from them as Luigi was using the radio, which leads the Comet Observatory to rescue them.

Fox manages to curate a fanbase with the Lumas, as several of them wear Fox McCloud-inspired jackets. He takes the helm of the Comet Observatory and files them into the Space Junk Galaxy, destroying any ships in their way.

Are Princess Peach and Rosalina Related?

For decades, fans have been theorising that Princess Rosalina and Princess Peach have been related. This was all merely down to them resembling each other, but finally, Nintendo has revealed the truth about the two princesses (at least the movie’s version of it).

At the start of the film, Rosalina reads a story to her Lumas that involves Princess Peach, but we don’t get to hear the full story as they’d rather listen to the story about Mario once again. Later in the film, Peach arrives at the Comet Observatory and comes across the storybook where we get to hear the full story.

Princess Peach and Princess Rosalina are finally revealed as sisters born of the stardust who, when together, can summon the power of the cosmos. With a movie that’s celebrating Super Mario’s 40th anniversary, it feels right to give the fans a little bit of fanservice with a long-discussed theory finally coming to fruition.

In the final act, Mario and Peach find themselves on Planet Bowser, where Rosalina is trapped and being used to power the “Boomsday” weapon that will help Bowser and Bowser Jr. rule the universe. While Mario, Luigi and Yoshi deal with the two Bowsers, Peach focuses on rescuing Rosalina.

Once she reaches Rosalina, Peach struggles to break her out but remembers that with their hands touching, they can summon the power of the cosmos. Although Rosalina is almost completely powerless, she finds the strength to reach for the glass, connecting her hand with Peach’s and summoning the celestial energy to break Rosalina free.

With Rosalina free, she reunites with not only her long-lost sister, Peach, but also her Lumas, who instantly request that they want to visit the Mushroom Kingdom and see the castle. Unfortunately, the castle was destroyed earlier in the film when Bowser Jr. attacked Mario, Luigi and Yoshi, with its remnants still in the Honeyhive Galaxy. Together, they build a brand new castle, and the movie ends with Mario using the Cape Feather power-up to mount the flag on the very top.

Do Bowser and Bowser Jr. Finally Win?

At the end of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Bowser was defeated and turned small by a mini Blue Mushroom and kept encased in glass. Towards the start of this film, we find him getting used to his new miniature life as he spends his days away painting pictures of Peach, himself and Peach or Mario dying in torturous ways.

Luigi suggests to Mario that Bowser has been changing slowly for the better, although he’s struggling to showcase it. After getting attacked by Bowser Jr. who’s requesting his father’s return, the castle gets destroyed after falling into the Honeyhive Galaxy. It’s here that Bowser asks to be turned back to his regular size, with Luigi supporting the idea. Bowser taunts Mario until he gives in by throwing him onto the ground and stepping on him, reversing the effects of the mushroom.

To everyone’s surprise, Bowser, now bigger than he was before, doesn’t go back on his word and instead gives Mario a big smooch on his face. They make their way to the Honey Queen (Issa Rae) to ask for assistance so they can make it to the Gateway Galaxy, but instead she sentences them to prison for damaging her galaxy. Once again, surprising everyone, Bowser sacrifices himself so that they can continue on their journey to rescue Princess Rosalina.

Not even a minute later, and Bowser Jr. arrives and abducts Bowser, freeing him from his sentence. We get a reunion between father and son and learn about Bowser’s plans with Planet Bowser that Bowser Jr. has continued.

Bowser begins to feel guilty about killing Mario and Luigi and persuades his son to use a different weapon on them, and he uses the Super Scope to turn them into babies. Bowser Jr manages to convince him to return to his villainous ways, reminding him that he’s King of the Koopas.

Once Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi arrive on Planet Bowser, we get an epic battle that involves Mario and Peach defeating an obstacle from Bowser’s and Bowser Jr.’s point of view, looking like a Super Mario Maker level.

Bowser arrives on the bridge to face off against Mario and Peach, but Mario destroys the bridge with Bowser’s axe, causing him to fall into the lava, but that’s not the last of him, as he returns as Dry Bowser, the Lord of Bones and the Skull King. Peach continues on to rescue Rosalina while Mario stays behind to face off against Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr. but with the help of Luigi and Yoshi who join in.

They all power up, with Mario gaining the Drill Mushroom (which first appeared in Super Mario Bros. Wonder), Luigi gaining the Cloud Flower and Yoshi the Blimp power-up. They lose in the fight, but Luigi grabs ahold of Bowser Jr.’s paintbrush and creates Mr. Game and Watch, who floats above Dry Bowser and uses his iconic hammer move to smash him to pieces.

Infuriated, Bowser Jr. creates the Ruined Dragon from Super Mario Odyssey, but it backfires as it eats him whole. Mario uses the Red Star to transform into Flying Mario and defeats the Ruined Dragon, saving Bowser Jr.

Princess Peach ultimately saves Princess Rosalina and with their cosmic powers together, they terraform Planet Bowser into a clean, green, nature-filled planet full of life, thwarting the plans of Bowser and Bowser Jr.

Are There Post-Credit Scenes?

Just like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has two post-credit scenes, and this time, they both hint at a possible future with the franchise.

The first post-credit scene features Fox McCloud and a Blue Toad walking out of a prison on this icy planet. We learn from Fox that Princess Peach managed to fix the warp drive on his Arwing and that he’s now finally able to return back home. As he flies off, we see Dry Bowser (or what’s left of him) and Bowser Jr. locked up in a cell. Bowser Jr. is trying to dig his way out of the cell, but then Lumalee, the sociopathic Luma from the first film, sporting a prison guard’s outfit and truncheon appears, threatening and warning them about any attempts to escape.

There are two important things to note here. Fox is making his way back to his universe, and this post-credit scene feels like a clear setup for the character to return in his own spin-off movie, which I’m sure fans of this film would love to see Glen Powell return in the role of Fox McCloud. Hopefully, if we ever do get that spin-off, it uses the 2D animation from Fox’s introduction scene to help it stand apart from the Super Mario films.

Secondly, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are locked up which means that we’ll likely get new villains for the third movie. While that doesn’t mean they won’t make an appearance or have a major role, I strongly believe they won’t be the main focus as antagonists and will come bigger and badder in a future movie.

The second post-credits scene finds us returning back to the Gateway Galaxy, where we see a Whittle get its luggage stolen by a Ukiki monkey (likely the same one from earlier in the film). The monkey is swiftly punched by the gloved hand of an unknown person. We soon find out after the Whille says, “Thank you, Your Highness,” that it was none other than Princess Daisy that came to the rescue. She’s seen wearing her iconic and familiar yellow dress, and it’s likely she’ll have a major role in a follow-up movie.

If it wasn’t obvious from the Princess Daisy reveal, we’re going to have her as a central character in the third movie. There were teases of her earlier in the film, with Luigi mentioning Princess Peach possibly having a friend for him, and his wish has been granted. We can only hope that she isn’t trapped for the entirety of the movie like Princess Rosalina was. There’s many directions that a third movie can go in but we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see what Illumination and Nintendo decide to do.