After months of rumor and speculation, we finally know the voice of Mario and Luigi in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder. The new Mario and Luigi voice actor, Kevin Afghani, revealed on Twitter that he was thankful that Nintendo let him voice both Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
In this tweet, Afghani stated he was “Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom.”
Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!
— Kevin Afghani (@KevinAfghani) October 13, 2023
Nintendo revealed in August 2023 that Charles Martinet would be “stepping back as the voice behind Mario, and instead would be a “Mario Ambassador.” Since then, fans have wondered who would replace him, with Nintendo’s own Doug Bowser stating that Nintendo wouldn’t let the cat out of the bag until Super Mario Bros.
During an interview with IGN, Bowser stated, “I think people have recognized this when they see Super Mario Bros. Wonder, they’ll hear a different voice, and we’ll let that play out, and that’ll be within the credits, and people will learn who the new person is at that point in time, but we don’t plan to make any announcement in advance of that.”
So it’s interesting that Afghani has revealed his role in all this despite the game not being launched for another few days. However, chances are that since the game had leaked and people had already started spoiling the game for many, Nintendo likely wanted to be the one to have the last laugh. I still can’t believe people are spoiling a Super Mario game’s story, but here we are.
As a big fan of the Super Bros. series, I’m looking forward to both playing the game and hearing how similar Afghani is to Martient, a voice that I have listened to for decades.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s release date for the Nintendo Switch is October 20, 2023.