Charles Martinet Is ‘Stepping Down’ As The Voice Of Mario, And The Chris Pratt Jokes Are Flying

Charles Martinet will no longer be able to say “it’s a-me, Mario.”

After over 30 years as the voice of the most famous video game character of all-time, as well as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi, Nintendo has revealed that Martinet is “stepping down” from voice acting.

“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64. Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!” the video game company wrote in a statement. “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. Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”

Martinet replied:

Nintendo fans knew something was up when Mario sounded different in the trailer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which comes out in October. Now it’s official. No replacement voice has been announced yet, but the jokes about Chris Pratt, who voiced Mario in this year’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, are flying higher than Mario in a Tanooki suit.