Nintendo has announced that Charles Martinet has retired as the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi and others in video games, but he will remain with Nintendo as a Mario Ambassador. The new voice actor(s) has/have not yet been announced.
To quote Nintendo of America about him retiring as the voice of Mario & friends:
“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64 [in 1996]. 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!
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 [Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.“
To quote Charles Martinet himself on his departure from voicing Mario & friends:
“My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! Woohoo!!!!!!!”
If you listened carefully to the recent trailers for Super Mario Bros. Wonder and WarioWare: Move It! you might have already noticed that Mario and Wario sounded a little bit unlike themselves. So it looks like Charles Martinet started passing on the torch to the unknown new Mario voice actor earlier in 2023.
So that would mean 2022’s Mario Strikers: Battle League or Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope might have been the last times he voiced Mario & co in video games. He also voice Mario’s dad Giuseppe in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Charles Martinet has voiced over 100 Mario games! Here’s an overview of some of the many Nintendo characters that Charles Martinet voiced…
What’s your favorite character voiced by Charles Martinet?
I love both Mario & Wario for always being excited! Thanks for the wahoo’s Charles!