Kevin Afghani is the new voice of Mario, replacing Charles Martinet, the long-running actor behind the video game icon.
The announcement came on the afternoon of October 13th through a post on X (Twitter) from Afghani, who said he’s “incredibly proud” to have voiced both Mario and Luigi in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Nintendo also confirmed the news in a brief statement to outlets like The Verge. Afghani previously voiced Arnold in the English dub of Genshin Impact, as well as Raditz in the fan-made Dragon Ball spin-off Dragon Ball R&R.
Incredibly proud to have voiced Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Thanks to Nintendo for inviting me into the Flower Kingdom!
— Kevin Afghani (@KevinAfghani) October 13, 2023
It was a rather unceremonious reveal, considering Nintendo had been strangely secretive about the new actor. When Martinet was confirmed in August to be retiring from the role of Mario after nearly 30 years, Nintendo simply said players would have to wait until Super Mario Bros. Wonder was released to discover the new voice.
However, dedicated fans recently datamined a Wonder demo and found Afghani’s voice listed at the top, which seemingly prompted Nintendo to make the announcement now instead of when the game releases.
In general, the whole situation surrounding Martinet’s departure has been… odd. For one, Martinet had said at Fan Expo Canada 2021 that he wished to voice Mario until he dies, so it’s unclear what may have happened between now and then.
Meanwhile, his final time voicing the character in a game was Ubisoft’s Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope — a great game, to be sure, but not even a mainline 2D or 3D Mario title like Wonder. (While Martinet did have a cameo in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was as Mario and Luigi’s father, with Chris Pratt playing the titular plumber instead.)
There’s even uncertainty surrounding what Martinet will be doing next. Nintendo has said he’ll become a “Mario Ambassador” for the company, but Martinet amusingly admitted that he doesn’t actually know what that means.
All in all, it’s a peculiar situation, but at least we now know who is replacing Martinet. It should be noted, however, that both Afghani and Nintendo’s respective statements don’t declare him as the permanent new voice for Mario, simply stating he played the character in Wonder. It remains to be seen whether he’ll reprise the role in future Mario titles.
In any case, Wonder is set to release on October 20th — alongside Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. For more on the first brand-new 2D Mario game in over 10 years, check out our preview and interview with the developers.
Image credit: Nintendo
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