In what appears to be a hint that the film will indeed bring the iconic heroine to life with all the personality of a feminist meme page, the pair of directors behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie have confirmed that their version of Princess Peach will have a ‘stronger’ character than any of her past incarnations.
Perhaps best known to audiences as the creators of Cartoon Network’s Teen Titans GO!, the Mushroom Kingdom’s directorial duo of Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic spoke to their approach to characterizing the franchise’s beloved cast of characters during a recent interview given to Total Film (via Comicbook.com) for the April issue of their magazine.
Beginning with the main mustachioed men themselves, the two creatives explained to the outlet, “It’s Mario’s goal to save his brother from Bowser’s clutches. He has to go on this epic adventure to do that.”
“So Luigi,” they continued, “who’s a famously nervous, anxious character, finds himself in the worst possible predicament: having to survive interrogations with Bowser, and make it through that gauntlet.”
Turning to their take on the world-famous member of the Mushroom Kingdom’s royal family, Horvath and Jelenic asserted that the film’s version of Peach would be less a damsel-in-distress and more of an assertive, take-no-guff authority figure.
“She’s the monarch who leads this kingdom of hapless, adorable Toads,” said the directors. “We were thinking how strong that person would need to be to protect those people. All that informed the idea for Peach’s character in our movie.”
Prior to Horvath and Jelenic’s seeming confirmation of the fact, Princess Peach’s on-screen role as the stereotypical ‘girlboss’ has already been hinted at in the film’s preview materials, most notably its first full trailer.
Therein, the Princess is not only shown leading Mario and Toad in their expedition to find Luigi and expressing frustration towards Mario’s platforming incompetence, but also – in a particularly on-the-nose moment – dramatically flipping a halberd weapon into her hands while calling on her subjects to prepare for war.
Featuring the voice talents of Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya-Taylor Joy as Princess Peach, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Jack Black as Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently set to jump into theaters on April 5th.
