Why Fox McCloud Is the Most Surprising Nintendo Character in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
In a sequel full of excellent cameos, Fox McCloud's reveal levels up The Super Mario Galaxy Movie!
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Key Takeaways
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie premieres on Peacock on July 30 and expands the Nintendo universe with characters including Yoshi, Wart, Honey Queen, Bowser Jr., Kamek, and the surprise addition of Fox McCloud from Star Fox.
- Fox McCloud, originally introduced in Nintendo’s 1993 Star Fox game, is voiced by Glen Powell and helps Mario and his allies travel to Space Junk Galaxy to confront Bowser Jr. and Bowser.
- Glen Powell’s casting came after he personally pitched a Star Fox movie to Illumination, while Nintendo creator Shigeru Miyamoto and producer Chris Meledandri were already planning to secretly include Fox McCloud in the sequel.
One of the biggest box office hits of 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is finally bounding onto Peacock for its July 30 exclusive streaming debut.
How to Watch
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will be available to stream July 30 only on Peacock.
The direct sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie (also streaming on Peacock), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie picks back up with plumbers and brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day). They return to the Mushroom Kingdom to hold things down while Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) ventures into the Galaxy with Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), hoping to help free kidnapped Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson).
Joining the adventures this time around are video game fan favorites Yoshi (Donald Glover), Wart (Luis Guzmán), Honey Queen (Issa Rae), and bad guys Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), and Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson). But the most surprising addition to the ever-broadening cast of Nintendo characters to the movie-verse is Fox McCloud from the classic Star Fox Nintendo games. Find out who he is, and how he plays a big part in this sequel, below.
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Who is Fox McCloud in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?
If you’re a classic Nintendo gamer, you’ll immediately know Fox McCloud as the heroic space fighter who first appeared in 1993's Star Fox on the Super NES. In 1997, he reappeared in the sequel game, Star Fox 64, released on the Nintendo 64. McCloud then went on to become a staple in Nintendo franchises like Super Smash Bros. and all future iterations of the Star Fox series.
In The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Fox McCloud (voiced by Glen Powell) is hired by our heroes to pilot them to the Space Junk Galaxy to confront Bowser Jr. and his pop, King Bowser (Jack Black).
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How was Glen Powell cast in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie?
Turns out that Glen Powell (Twisters) is also a Nintendo gamer, and a super fan of the Star Fox video games. With the success of The Super Nintendo Bros. Movie, the actor decided to shoot his shot with Illumination studios and cold-pitched a Star Fox movie with him voicing the suave pilot.
Illumination CEO and producer Chris Meledandri told Forbes that Powell "explained that we had to understand how deeply he loved the character of Fox McCloud. His dream was one day to be part of a Star Fox movie."
What Powell didn’t know was that Nintendo game director and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Meledandri were already discussing how to integrate Fox McCloud into The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
“What happened was that after we spoke about it, we had decided we wanted Star Fox to appear in this new movie as a surprise,” Meledandri revealed. "When I called Glen back, I said, ‘Look, I want you to have a conversation, but it has to be completely secret, you cannot talk it to anyone’, as no one knew this character would be so close to this movie. On top of that, we felt that there was a Glen Powell kind of attitude to the character, and he feels perfectly suited to that role. It was one of those gifts."
Check out Powell's performance as Star Fox when The Super Mario Galaxy Movie streams on Peacock beginning Thursday, July 30.
