UPDATE
Ironically, Charles Martinet spoke over the weekend about his “Mario Ambassador” role and noted that he doesn’t know what it is yet:
ORIGINAL STORY
Whether we like it or not, the role of Mario is no longer solely owned by Charles Martinet. He has been the gaming icon’s voice for many years, and gamers have gotten used to how he sounds as the character. So much so that when a certain animated movie came out and cast Chris Pratt in the role, many weren’t amused. However, as noted by both Martinet and Nintendo, he’s not leaving the company, nor is he retiring from voice acting. Instead, he will be the newly created role of “Mario Ambassador.” A title that still has some things to be explained.
One of the people talking about the “new role” for Martinet is Doug Bowser, the head of Nintendo of America. He spoke in an interview with IGN about Charles Martinet and how gamers will still experience him while getting to hear someone else be Mario for a while:
“Charles has obviously been a voice actor with us for quite some time, and as we look for ways to keep Charles involved in Nintendo’s business, we thought this was a very nice transition for him. And Charles is very excited about it. I’ll let Charles speak to it himself if he’d like to, but we look forward to having him continue to represent Nintendo and importantly the Mushroom Kingdom as we go forward. 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, if nothing else, you can tell Nintendo is grateful to Charles Martinet for all he has done and wants him to still be a part of the brand. That’s important because fans still very much adore the man. He does the Comic-Con circuit and is never afraid to talk with fans and post online about things he’s doing. While there’s still no clear-cut definition of “Mario Ambassador,” many feel he’ll be going around and promoting the various things that Mario will be involved in. Whether it’s the upcoming games, the possible movie sequels, or simply media that Mario or the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom cast are attached to, he’ll likely be there.
We’ll just have to see where it all goes and hope his “replacements” are up to snuff.
