Super Mario Bros Movie: Who Is Spike?
Mario has gone through many phases in his decades as the main mascot for gaming as a whole. His upcoming movie seems like it'll be sticking to the classic Mario format, but one name on the character list is a major blast from the past that brings Mario's ancient history to the forefront of the film's possible plot.
Among the cast list of Illumination's upcoming Super Mario Bros: The Movie, there were a few big surprises, from Chris Pratt's inexplicable role as Mario to the bizarre inclusion of Cranky Kong. But the reveal that really had young fans scratching their heads was stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco's role as Spike.
Exactly what counts as a "character" in the Super Mario universe is a matter of questionable definitions. From one-off villains who are abandoned after their defeat to countless temporary bit players who serve their role then are swiftly forgotten, the series is rife with beings that do not make the cut. Even series mainstays like Yoshi, undoubtedly sometimes given the full character treatment, they're just as often relegated to glorified power-up and left out of the games' barebones storytelling. Perhaps the most easily forgotten characters are those introduced before Mario established himself with the genre-defining platformers he is now synonymous with. One such character who is apparently receiving a substantial upgrade is Foreman Spike.
Spike is introduced, and appears exclusively in, 1984's Wrecking Crew. Originally released to arcades, the game enjoyed a home release via the NES the following year. Wrecking Crew is essentially an entire game based around the hammer power-up from the original Donkey Kong. Players take on the role of Mario or Luigi and use large sledgehammers to demolish every object on screen for one hundred separate levels. Spike is essentially an antagonist of this game, though he is unable to harm or kill the player, he hampers progress by throwing objects and attempting to gather coins.
Foreman Spike has essentially never appeared again in the Mario universe. There have been scant references, for example one of Mario's color options in the Super Smash Bros. series is a pastiche of Spike's color scheme. Spike briefly appears in a WarioWare minigame, also entitled Wrecking Crew, in which the player must smash walls in search of coins. After victory in that game, Spike briefly appears as a callback to the original game. In Super Mario Maker, players can use a special mushroom to change sprites, one allows players to take on Spike's form. Spike has only ever been playable in one other game, Mobile Golf, a Japan-exclusive golf game for the Game Boy Color in which Spike is an unlockable character.
Interestingly, Foreman Spike is not even the only Mario character named Spike, and the other has been present far more often. Originally introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3, Spikes are variant-Koopas who sort of resemble a bipedal frog with a tiny shell on their back. They are enemies which emit huge spike balls from their mouths and throw them at the player. They have since appeared as enemies in six main Mario games. They have also been playable characters in Mario Party 9 and 10, as well as two Mario-based sports titles. Shockingly, despite being much more regular features of the franchise, the Spike confirmed for the upcoming film is Foreman Spike, not the enemy Spikes, though both could end up appearing.
So what possible reason could Nintendo or Illumination have for dredging up Foreman Spike for their first Mario movie in decades? Well, the obvious suggestion is that he's just an easy pick to get Sebastian Maniscalco into the cast. Maniscalco is a hugely popular stand-up comedian, especially with the older demographics. He is a clean comic whose specials and podcasts get huge play among a certain audience. The trend of hiring stand-up comics for kids cartoon films to keep adult audiences engaged is well documented and time-tested. From Robin Wiliams all the way back in Aladdin to Kevin Hart in 2016's The Secret Life of Pets, stand-up comics are a surefire way to keep audiences of all ages engaged, and Spike could be a good character to saddle with that role.
The other guess as to Spike's role in the story would be as a secondary or perhaps tertiary antagonist. Bowser will obviously be the main villain of the piece, as he is of the larger Mario franchise. However, in Wrecking Crew '98, the puzzle game semi-sequel to the original title, Spike appears to be in the employ of the fire-spitting boss as he tries to defeat Mario in Puyo-Puyo style combat. Spike could be the narrative link back to Mario's life as a blue-collar worker before he begins his new life as a professional princess rescuer and full-time adventurer.
Foreman Spike is a bizarre choice for the Mario movie, with such a huge catalog to pull from, fans are right to be shocked by his inclusion. A lesser villain who never really got his due, fans will have to wait and see what's in store for Foreman Spike when the movie premieres next year.
Super Mario Bros Movie: Who Is Spike?
Source: Pinay Diaries PH
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