Nintendo released a new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy Movie during this weekend’s surprise Nintendo Direct, showcasing Yoshi and several other classic characters making their big screen debuts.

The short presentation, moderated by Mario’s legendary creator Shigeru Miyamoto, quickly began with an extended look at Mario and Luigi riding motorcycles through the desert, as seen in previous trailers for the film. The two head to an inverted pyramid-shaped location in the Sand Kingdom that will be familiar to anyone who has played Super Mario Odyssey.

Tasked with unblocking a rogue warp pipe, Mario and Luigi power up with Fire Flowers and head into the darkness. As Mario’s infamous underground music plays, the brothers arrive at a clogged pipe, only to find something inside…Yoshi! Who’s going to speak?

Yoshi reveals the whole story

Far from being the strong-looking enemy the brothers were hoping for, Yoshi is initially shown to be scared of Mario and Luigi, but later shots in the trailer reveal that the little dinosaur quickly becomes part of the gang.

If you’ve seen the previous Super Mario Bros. movie, you know that Yoshi’s appearance was expected following the film’s post-credits scene, where the green Yoshi’s egg begins to crack. In today’s trailer, we get our first look at what Yoshi sounds like, as he can not only call his name, but also mutter some words.

The trailer then continues with a montage of shots of Mario and Peach breaking into a lava-filled area that looks like Bowser’s Castle level. We also see Toad being swallowed by a giant Cheep Cheep and being saved by Luigi wearing the classic frog suit power-up.

Here’s Yoshi seen in the new artwork for the movie:

Bird, Mouser, and Lakitu confirmed

Another quick montage of shots first shows Bird angrily firing an egg at Peach. The princess uses her parasol to protect herself, and Mouser is briefly visible. Mouser is a true deep-cut character that Super Mario Bros. 2 players will recognize as the game’s rodent boss.

Regardless of what’s going on here, it makes sense for Bird and Mouser to appear together in the same sequence. Both appeared in “Super Mario Bros. 2,” which is set in the world of subcontractors. Early in the movie, while Mario and Luigi go to the Sand Kingdom, Peach is given her own side quest to complete here?

In the next clip, we get our first look at Lakitu on the big screen as he fires projectiles at Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi.

Baby Luigi and Baby Mario are back

The trailer ends with Yoshi clutching a gun resembling the Super Nintendo Super Scope and Toad holding Baby Luigi and Baby Mario. What is going on here? The group is depicted facing off against a Tyrannosaurus rex that looks straight out of Super Mario Odyssey.

Today’s Nintendo Direct ended with a quick summary of Yoshi’s history in past Nintendo games and an interview with animation studio Illumination boss Chris Meledandri. Meledandri revealed that the animation work on Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now fully completed and the film is currently in post-production.

As work continues on the film’s sound and music, the theme from the Super Mario Galaxy game is being re-recorded for the film’s soundtrack using a 70-piece orchestra.

New voice actor undecided

Interestingly, Nintendo did not reveal the name of the actor who provided Yoshi’s vocals, nor the names of any new actors added to the film’s voice cast.

Rosalina and Bowser Jr. also completely ignored the trailer after Rosalina was revealed in the film’s previous Nintendo Direct, which garnered attention in November, and revealed that the space princess would be voiced by Marvel star Brie Larson. The same trailer also announced that Bowser Jr. will be voiced by Benny Safdie.

Safdie and Larson will be joined by the same core cast as the first film: Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek.

Previous rumors suggested that the movie would feature “really deep-dive” Nintendo characters, leading fans to speculate that the plot would finally confirm long-held theories about Peach and Rosalina’s origins.

Super Mario Galaxy Movie is scheduled to be released in theaters on April 1st, two days earlier than originally announced, in line with other international releases.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s news editor. You can contact Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky. @tomphillipseg.bsky.social