Universal PicturesJust two movies in and already uncovering an entire galaxy of adventure (and unfathomable amounts of money for Nintendo and Universal), there’s no way there isn’t more planet-hopping and 3D platforming in store for Mario and Luigi on the big screen. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie one-ups the first film in terms of scale and the depths of franchise lore it’s pulling from (from obvious cameos like Super Mario Galaxy’s Honey Queen to deeper cuts like an extended gag based on Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time), and somehow it barely even scratches the surface of the ever-growing library of games starring the two plumbing brothers. It’s a far cry from the bizarre, unrecognizable nature of the notorious 90s attempt. Spoilers ahead.Although the film ends with the newly undead Dry Bowser (Jack Black) and his son Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) locked up in a Luma-guarded prison, courtesy of Mario (Chris Pratt), Luigi (Charlie Day), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), her surprise sister Rosalina (Brie Larson), and an MVP piloting performance from Fox McCloud (Glen Powell), based on the film’s post-credits scene, it’s clear that there’s more story to be told beyond the Mushroom Kingdom. In fact, considering a throwaway plot reveal earlier in the film, there might even be more story to be told beyond Mario’s own universe.The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Post-Credits Scene ExplainedMario and Luigi hopefully won’t have to worry about Bowser for a while after the events of the sequel. | Universal PicturesEarlier in the film, when Princess Peach and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) first arrive at the Gateway Galaxy (a nexus point of intergalactic travel in the film and the first galaxy in the 2007 video game), they’re immediately robbed by a Ukiki, a monkey enemy type that first debuted back in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. In the post-credits scene, we see the same Ukiki running his hustle on another unsuspecting victim, stealing her purse before promptly being knocked out by none other than Princess Daisy. She doesn’t speak in the scene, so naturally, the question will be who will inevitably be cast in the role, but it seems pretty safe to say that she’ll be making her official debut in the next sequel.Daisy’s first appearance was in the original Super Mario Land, released as a launch title for the Game Boy back in 1989. There, Daisy is depicted as the princess of Sarasaland, a peaceful kingdom that ends up being invaded by Tatanga, an evil space alien of indeterminate origin who possesses hypnotic powers. Tatanga uses his abilities to hypnotize the subjects of Daisy’s kingdom, turning them into enemies for Mario to face, in an attempt to force Princess Daisy’s hand in marriage (not unlike a certain King Koopa in another kingdom).The Super Mario Galaxy Movie loosely uses the narrative of Super Mario Galaxy as a basis for the plot (with some major deviations), so it’s a reasonable assumption that if Daisy shows up in a sequel, it could be based in part on Super Mario Land, which means Bowser might finally take a backseat to a different villain. There’s also the strong possibility the film will fold in other aspects of Daisy’s character from later games, more than likely her teased relationship with Luigi. But even before the reveal of Daisy in the post-credits scene, there’s a minor plot thread earlier that could end up being crucial to future Mario films, or even future Nintendo adaptations.A Shared Nintendo Multiverse?Fox McCloud’s appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie might end up being more important than anyone predicted. | Universal PicturesFans were beyond excited when it was announced that Fox McCloud from the Star Fox franchise would appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, even though the initial assumption was that it’d be a simple cameo. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as Glen Powell’s take on the character is given an entire supporting role, and is easily one of the highlights of the film. He’s even given an extended backstory sequence executed in a fresh, anime-adjacent 2D art style, where we see the other members of the Star Fox team – Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad.But it’s not the Star Fox fan-service (or the barrel roll jokes) that’s the intriguing part: it’s the revelation that Fox McCloud hails from a wholly separate universe, and was spit out in Mario’s dimension as a result of a wormhole anomaly he encountered while patrolling the Lylat system. The last time we see Fox in the movie, he’s flying back through a wormhole to his own home, but the fact that the existence of a multiverse is so casually confirmed is more than enough to send Nintendo fans into a spiral of speculation over the potential of spin-offs.The obvious one would be a Star Fox film, or even an animated show, and at face value it makes perfect sense – the IP is a widely beloved Nintendo staple, there’s a popular A-list Hollywood actor attached to the role, and the bones of his story are already introduced in an accessible way in his guest appearance. It could even be done in a 2D animated style similar to Fox’s flashback scene. The idea of Star Fox spin-off borrowing from the visual language of space epics and animated classics like Voltron feels like it could write itself.But of course, the mind can’t help but wander to what else might be out there beyond Mario’s universe. Could an animated Kirby adventure be on its way? Could the brief Pikmin cameo in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie be the gateway to a family-friendly comedy based on the successful puzzle games? Or, in what is probably the most unlikely fantasy, could Nintendo be sowing the seeds for a Super Smash Bros. crossover on-screen? While there’s an effort to keep the separate game franchises disconnected outside of rare exceptions, that might not necessarily be the case on-screen. Regardless of whether or not Nintendo is shaping an interconnected universe behind the scenes, it’s all but guaranteed that we’ll at least be seeing more of Mario’s galaxy in the near future.The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters now.