Last month, Nintendo announced that Mario’s longtime original voice actor, Charles Martinet, would be stepping down from the role, and would instead be a “Mario Ambassador” going forward. Many fans were curious about who the next voice actor for the role will be, especially given the next Mario game, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, is out soon. Now, it seems we finally have an answer, as the voice actor has revealed himself.
Los Angeles-based voice actor Kevin Afghani announced on X, formerly Twitter, that he is the new voice of both Mario and Luigi in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, replacing Charles Martinet. Afghani previously voiced Arnold in Genshin Impact. It’s also worth noting that a recent datamine of the Mario Wonder demo revealed Afghani’s name on a list of voice actors, among others.
While many believed Mick Wingert, who was also on the list, would be Mario’s new replacement, Kevin Afghani himself publicly confirmed that he voiced Mario and Luigi. The recent leak also revealed that Deanna Mustard was recast as Daisy, Jenny James voiced Bowser, and that Samantha Kelly may have returned to voice Peach.
Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games as far back as Super Mario 64. According to Nintendo, he will “continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all” as a Mario Ambassador.
While it’s now been officially confirmed that Kevin Afghani will be voicing the widely popular characters, it is yet to be known whether the datamine accurately confirms the other voice actors. We’ll just have to wait and see when the full cast is officially announced.
