Twitter prophet predicted Chris Pratt’s Mario movie casting, leaving fans floored
Wikimedia Commons: Gage Skidmore / NintendoChris Pratt’s surprise casting as Mario in the upcoming movie was expected by no one — except one Twitter prophet. A tweet dating back to May 2020 has gone viral after one user’s big brain was on display after the Nintendo Direct announcement.
When the Mario movie — and its talent — was announced on September 23 during a Nintendo Direct presentation, the internet went crazy over the casting decisions.
The film will see Chris Pratt take up the mantle of the iconic red-capped plumber, with Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black featuring as Luigi, Peach, and Bowser respectively.
While these announcements caused quite the buzz already, it only got more hectic when a tweet from May 2020 resurfaced predicting the casting — going viral shortly after.
Viral tweet predicts Chris Pratt in Nintendo’s Mario movie
Twitter user StheGeneral’s throwaway tweet didn’t really have any ramifications back in 2020.
“I’m calling it now, the Mario Bros movie will not have Charles Martinet play Mario for no reason and cast someone like Chris Pratt,” they said over 12 months ago.
It didn’t really do numbers at the time, but after the Nintendo Direct, the tweet quickly became a viral hit, reaching nearly 100,000 likes at the time of publishing.
I'm calling it now, the Mario Bros movie will NOT have Charles Martinet play Mario for no reason and cast someone like Chris Pratt
— StheGeneral (@general_sthe) May 21, 2020
Of course, the internet melted down.
Some joked that StheGeneral had a time machine. Even some of the biggest names like jschlatt couldn’t believe the kind of prophecy random internet users were tweeting out years in advance.
Bro
— Schlatt (@jschlatt) September 23, 2021
How this guy be looking when the FBI breaks into his house tomorrow to confiscate his time machine pic.twitter.com/Gmfcw6Hx9Q
— Lucid 🔜 CtCon (@LucidShuck) September 23, 2021
sure am glad i get to be the first one to post this pic.twitter.com/QXXJqJD6Tx
— ★Arcade | RIP Kazuki Takahashi (@ACSchakal) September 23, 2021
Some others couldn’t help but draw comparisons between the Mario movie and 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog release.
Chris Pratt was rumored to be in contention for a role in the film, before the movie went through a total redesign due to widespread criticism.
While he missed that one, he’s found himself in another gaming pop culture hit — even if not everyone in internet fandom is too pleased.
Man I’m not even watching the Nintendo Direct yet but lemme say: Fuck this casting celebrities as video game characters in their movies thing. Let Roger Craig Smith be Sonic, let Charles Martinet be Mario, no one wants to see them reinvent Mario to act like Chris Pratt.
— Matt Shipman 🌪️Vongola Storm Guardian 🌪️ (@MattShipmanVO) September 23, 2021
StheGeneral did have the last laugh after the tweet went viral though: “If there’s one ‘decent’ thing about this I guess Chris Pratt’s career hasn’t been canceled anymore?”
Whether it was a shot in the dark or an educated guess, hats off to StheGeneral for getting this one right.