Nintendo and Illumination may already be at work on the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but I think there's another underrated Nintento property that's perfectly suited for an animated film. The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a massive success for Universal and Illumination, setting up more films and adapting the Nintendo library of films. While the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is set to be live-action, I'm still excited to see more animated movies based on Nintendo concepts.

Picking the right ones might be tricky though, given the sheer scope of the Nintendo library of characters and properties. If the studio can figure out which ones to release though, they could set up a massive crossover with a Super Smash Bros. movie. There's one series in particular that's already perfectly positioned to work as a film adaptation, given the game's character focus, action potential, and sheer scale. If Illumination and Universal could successfully adapt this game series, they may have their own answer to one of film's biggest franchises.

Star Fox Has All The Ingredients To Become A Nintendo Movie Hit

A Star Fox Movie Has Great Cinematic Potential

I think the Star Fox would be the ideal world for the Nintendo cinematic universe to bring to the big screen. Debuting on the Super Nintendo with Star Fox in 1993, the series has released seven mainline games. The series focuses on the titular team of anthropomorphic mercenary space pilots, led by the confident Fox McCloud. The group (consisting of Fox, the snarky Falco Lombardi, seasoned pilot Peppy Hare, and tech expert Slippy Toad) is hired to protect the Lylat System from the villainous Andross. It's a personal favorite for me, a space-based rail shooter full of secret paths and hidden challenges.

There are a lot of inherent elements to Star Fox that I believe would work tremendously well on the big screen. There's the exciting visuals baked into the concept, with any filmmakers brought onto the project given a plethora of aerial combat scenes across dozens of potential locations to bring to life. The story has the makings of a sci-fi epic, pitting a handful of incredibly skilled pilots against an entire army of cosmic marauders. There's also the central cast, whose dynamics flesh out a lot of the story and world of Star Fox.

Star Fox Avoids Movie Adaptation Problems Other Nintendo Franchises Have

One of the trickiest elements of adapting a Nintendo property is how the videogame publisher has always leaned towards silent protagonists. Characters like Mario, Link, Samus, and Kirby in-game are left somewhat blank canvasses who rarely speak. This works very well for the games, as it allows the players to more easily identify with and latch onto. While Nintendo has gotten better about this over time, it also means that many of their classic characters are purposefully vague in terms of pure characterization. This makes adaptation a trickier beast.

While it took a while for Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario Bros. to define their central character's personalities, Star Fox has never had that problem. I've always loved how the members of the Star Fox team converse, bicker, and come together, setting up great central dynamics that a film could expand on. Fox's dogged determination (and willingness to risk his life to finish a mission) gives him a clear personality that filmmakers could easily latch onto and build on to create plenty of compelling drama for the cast of a Star Fox movie to contend with.

A Star Fox Movie Could Give Illumination & Universal Their Answer To Star Wars

Cosmic Warfare & Mysterious Forces Could Give Universal A Massive Sci-Fi Franchise

Star Fox has enough cosmic action, character drama, and deep mysteries to justify a film adaptation, where it could theoretically become Illumination and Universal's answer to Star Wars. Games like Star Fox Adventures introduced mystical elements of the universe that could be a stand-in for the Force, and figures like the maniacal Andross could easily take their place in the sci-fi villain pantheon. The series has also been stalled for years (with their last fully original outing being released in 2016), meaning the filmmakers would have a certain amount of creative freedom to take the franchise in different directions.

I'd love to see Fox and his team take flight in a big-budget movie, and I think it'd be the perfect way for Illumination to expand their Nintendo film slate beyond Mario and the characters in his orbit. It's the sort of thing I've wanted since I was kid playing Star Fox for the first time, getting to soar through a colorful universe and engage in thrilling ship-to-ship combat. Star Fox could be the ideal direction for Illumination and Nintendo to go, proving there's far more to the video game company's library than just Mario and Link.