October 16th 2023.
Wowie zowie! After a leaked list of voice actors for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, one of them – Kevin Afghani – has come forward to confirm that he is, in fact, the new Mario.
The moment Nintendo announced Charles Martinet was stepping down as the voice of Mario, the gaming community wondered who would take his place. Nintendo remained tight-lipped, so some desperate fans resorted to datamining a public demo of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and sharing the list of voice actors online.
On the weekend, Kevin Afghani made a post on Twitter to confirm that he had taken on Martinet’s iconic roles as Mario and Luigi. He said he was “incredibly proud” to have voiced them, and thanked Nintendo for inviting him into the Flower Kingdom.
If you’re not familiar with Afghani’s work, his only other video game performance was in Genshin Impact as Arnold, a non-playable character. He has also contributed to web animations, like a Dragon Ball Z fan series where he plays the main character, and done voiceovers for adverts, including one for the Nintendo Switch.
The community has welcomed Afghani’s involvement with open arms, and he expressed his gratitude with a follow-up Tweet. He was overwhelmed with the reactions and wished he could respond to each and every one of them, but joked he might “explode” if he tried.
Although Afghani hasn’t said anything about how he got the roles of Mario and Luigi, it’s a monumental step in his career. Meanwhile, Nintendo is oddly quiet about the whole affair; they were planning to let people find out by reading the Super Mario Bros. Wonder credits once the game launched.
The one question that remains is who is the new voice of Wario in the upcoming WarioWare: Move It! Afghan might not have taken on this role, but he isn’t allowed to mention it yet.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder launches on October 20 for Nintendo Switch. In the meantime, be sure to stay updated with all the latest gaming content, latest releases, and Inbox letters and Reader’s Features on the site.
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