For decades, Charles Martinet voiced the iconic video game character Mario in Nintendo’s popular series, but those days are seemingly now over. Nintendo has announced that Martinet, who rose to a new level of fame with 1996’s Super Mario 64, is transitioning into the role of “Mario Ambassador.”
Nintendo said Martinet will be “stepping back from recording character voices for our games.” However, Martinet will “continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all.”
“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him,” Nintendo said.
Nintendo also stated that it will have a “special video message” to share from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Martinet to come “at a future date.”
Sharing his own statement, Martinet wrote, “My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!” He added his iconic voice line “woohoo” as a hashtag in his statement.
Fans are speculating whether or not Martinet is the voice of Mario in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which releases for Nintendo Switch this October. GameSpot has contacted Nintendo in an attempt to get more details on Martinet’s involvement in Wonder.
Martinet has voiced Mario for decades. In addition to Mario, Martinet voices Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi, among other roles in the wider Nintendo universe.
Martinet’s voice and performance as Mario is iconic and memorable, which is part of the reason why people got upset that Mario would be voiced by Chris Pratt in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Martinet had a cameo in the movie, though, lending his voice to Mario and Luigi’s father.
In addition to his voiceover roles, Martinet acted in the live-action movie Nine Months starring Hugh Grant. He also appeared in 1997’s The Game, which starred Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.
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