Yes.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie + Fox McCloud Appearance Review [Spoilers Hidden]
Hey everybody! I just got out of the movie theater after watching the midnight premier. This is my review of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Fox's appearances within it.
Don't worry! Spoilers are strictly hidden until you reveal them. I've broken things up so that you can see only the details you want while keeping other things hidden from yourself. Click on each item in turn to reveal more details.
I've ordered these items so they go from least revealing to most revealing.
Did I like the movie? Yes or No
Is this movie better than the previous movie?
In my opinion, very much yes.
I didn't really like the first Mario movie very much. It was fine as an animated movie, but I found the story rather simplistic and it had two of my least favorite tropes:
- It assumed the audience can't handle a different universe, so they have to explain why the Mushroom Kingdom is not like Earth, in detail. We've seen a movie before. You don't have to make everything directly relatable to real life.
- Highlighting the "strong, independent girlboss" character, in the form of Princess Peach, while making the male character (Mario) a bumbling idiot, at least at first. Peach really didn't need Mario at all, which kinda defeats the purpose of a Mario movie. Mario is basically just tagging along on the adventure for most of the movie.
I'm happy to say that both of these concerns are addressed pretty well in this sequel.
Basically no time at all was spent on the "real world" beyond a quick flashback or two. Very little time is spent explaining where things came from or what they are, but neither of them have anything to do with the Earth we know.
There were only two explanation dumps in the movie. One was clearly done for time (to humorous effect) and the other was to explain the relationship between two characters to set up for a plot point at the end of the movie (this one is a retcon, and probably one of the reasons some people are complaining online).
There was a lot I liked about this movie, and unlike the first one, it had very few cringy moments. Everything was a bit more serious, a bit higher stakes.
Almost all the characters are competent and have their moments to shine throughout. Basically, everyone is on-point in this film. No-one is the bumbling idiot. Even gag moments are kept short. I really like seeing a story where all the characters, good and bad, are operating at a high level of skill, so when they help each other or try to harm each other, it's a bigger, more complex interaction.
General thoughts on the movie?
Lots of stuff happens really fast. Some things could have easily been stretched out, but weren't simply for time reasons.
However, that could just be my perception talking, since it was my first time seeing the film and so I was having to process the novel events in real time. Nevertheless, it seemed like there were a lot more locations, characters, and plot-events in this movie.
As I talked about above, pretty much all the characters are on point. As for characters getting over or underpowered, to my delight, pretty much every character is taken more seriously. Almost all of them are competent and able to accomplish what they set out to do, barring significant enemy resistance. Most characters have their moments to shine. Sometimes amazingly so. I never thought I'd think Bowser Jr was a cool character, but here we are.
As for Mario and Peach, they actually complement each other well. In one scene, they show themselves to match well in skillset, each one saving the other from moment to moment. Peach is still overpowered, but everyone is on point in this film, in my opinion. If anyone gets taken out or hurt, it's not for a lack of skill or power, but because the enemy used some advantage they couldn't defend against.
Overall, the story is more complex. Different groups of characters break off and come back together. It's a pure adventure with very little time spent standing around talking or explaining things.
And I think they did an excellent job with Fox.
How much is Fox McCloud in the movie?
A lot.
He joins one group of characters and helps them out at about the halfway point in the movie, and has major interactions for the next quarter of the movie. He's important throughout the latter half of the movie, for sure.
Are Fox's visual appearance and voice acting any good?
Fox matches the style of the Mario animated universe, but is also distinct. He definitely comes off as a cool guy (YES!), even one of the other characters says so, directly. But it's not done is a "look at me" kind of way. It's more of a confidence that knows when to brag and when to simply get things done without saying a word.
Fox remains cool and collected in all but one scene where he has a moment as the visual gag. But it's something I could expect Fox to lose his composure over.
Glen Powell's voice acting for Fox is great. I think Fox sounds like he should. Definitely different from previous voices of Fox, but it's an appropriate voice.
Do they do Fox McCloud's character justice?
I think so. He is given a serious role, and is essential to progressing the story.
Interestingly, he starts off kinda like a Han Solo type character. Literally, he's asked to transport people for money, and Fox is all too willing to oblige when he sees gold. Perhaps this is a while after Star Fox 64 when he starts getting desperate for funds.
Regardless, he's clearly a good and noble guy. I enjoyed seeing him on screen.
Does any Star Fox music play during the movie?
Yes, at least twice. Mostly during the times Fox is fighting another ship in his Arwing.
One is a rendition of the Corneria theme from Smash Bros Melee and another is definitely from Star Fox 64. I think it is part of the theme played in the intro cutscene.
It's interesting how they did it. Star Fox themes just kinda start up out of nowhere, and it's a different tone than the other Mario music playing in other parts of the movie.
How do they introduce Fox in the movie?
This is one of the best and also funniest scenes in the movie.
When asked who he is by Toad and Princess Peach, he barks out "NO PERSONAL QUESTIONS!" before he immediately launches into a fast-paced explanation. In less than a minute he gives the rundown of his entire character, backstory, talks about his crew of Falco, Peppy, and Slippy, and finally mentions why he is here on this planet specifically. He even throws in a humourous comment about Slippy's skills as a mechanic.
It's hard to express how fun this is. The art style shifts to wildly different versions. There's one frame showing the whole Star Fox 64 team in kind of an anime-type stylized look. I am sure we'll see wallpapers made out of several frames from this quick sequence.
What is Fox's main purpose in the film?
Transport. Then an actual Arwing battle. Then having a breakdown when his Arwing breaks down. Then more transport. Then more spaceship battles. If you need someone to pilot and fight in a space ship, Fox is your guy.
What are the Non-Mario series characters in the movie?
You already know Yoshi and Fox.
Donkey Kong is mentioned and shown briefly, but I don't think he even has a speaking role.
Pikmin appear in a spaceport.
ROB the robot (the NES accessory) is an information desk attendant.
Mr. Game & Watch is a magical construct Luigi created by using Bowser Jr's magic paint brush.
What is the basic plot summary of the movie? (TODO)
It's almost 4AM, I must sleep. Don't worry, I took some notes, so I will be filling this section out tomorrow. Sorry about that.
Are there any post-credit scenes? Yes or No
Yes, there are 2.
What are they about?
The first one is after the animated credits showing the main actors. It has Fox talking to a Toad, saying he got help from Rosalina to fix up his warp drive and will now be able to get back to Lylat. Then, it shows Bowser Jr and Bowser in a jail cell planning an escape, only to be psycologically tormented by the insane blue Luma from the first film.
After the rest of the credits, the final post-credit scene shows the monkey from earlier in the film steals another character's bag, only to be punched by a gloved hand. This turns out to be Daisy. Cut to black.
Are there any hints of future Star Fox projects?
Well, they clearly indicated that Fox is from another universe. A simple warp drive malfunction got him there, and a repaired warp drive could get him home. I think this easily opens the door for a Smash Bros style merging of character stories eventually.
As for a Star Fox movie or whatever, it's certainly possible. Fox was far more than a quick cameo, and they went into way more backstory than was necessary for his role in the story, so I could see Nintendo using this to plant the seeds for people to become interested in an upcoming movie.
However, no particular wording or event directly pointed to a definite Star Fox movie that I recall. We can hope though. I'd definitely watch a whole movie with this Fox. I can only imagine the crazy things they'd do with the rest of the Star Fox team in such a film.
Is Krystal in the movie? Yes or No
Yes
How is Krystal in the movie?
It's really hard to see, but in Fox's cockpit, barely visible, there's a photo of Krystal on taped to one of the panels. She's wearing a flight jacket instead of her Adventures or Assault clothing. There's one lipstick kiss mark on the corner too.
Wait, really?!
Would I lie to you?
I guess not?
You've activated my trap card!
It's literally April Fools' day!
Hey, you're right.
Well?! Is she really in it?
Nope.
I hate you.
Well, I love you.
Thanks for being a good sport. Seriously, I was racking my brain trying to come up with a good prank for this year, and came up with nothing. Then the Fox McCloud news dropped and I got a wonderful, awful idea.
Anyway, I promise everything else in this post besides the Krystal stuff is actually legit, so if you want to scroll back up and read those spoilers, you can be confident in the accuracy of what I described.
If there are any other parts or spoiler things you think I should add to this page, let me know. Also, feel free to share your thoughts on the film once you see it in the comments. Just be aware, everyone: the comments may have spoilers in them.
BossLogic’s Unofficial Fox McCloud Poster
BossLogic, a 3D modeler, posted his interpretation of a Fox McCloud poster on Twitter/X.
Epic! Nice job, BossLogic. It honestly took me a little bit to figure out this wasn't official.
TerminalMontage Excited for HiYAAA to Join Mario Movie
TerminalMontage is apparently very excited to see Fox McCloud join the Mario Galaxy Movie. Check out his YouTube short animation of what will definitely happen in the first few minutes of the movie.
Star Fox Double Wing Damage Remix Album
Nice trailer, huh? On February 21, 2026, OCRemix released their 81st remix album, Star Fox Double Wing Damage! I thought it might have been related to the yet-unreleased 2018 project Lylat System CLEAR, but this album seems to be unrelated.
Star Fox Double Wing Damage features 30 tracks by 37 artists featuring remixes and compositions inspired by songs throughout the Star Fox series. Apparently Star Fox Command and Star Fox Guard were left out this time, but that's ok because there are some great tracks in here.
For those of you looking for Krystal-specific tracks, these stood out to me:
- "Cries from Crystal Eyes" by mo.oorgan - Remix of the Krazoa Shrine theme, which uses Krystal voice acting clips.
- "Spectre" by Treyt feat. Shea's Violin - Krazoa Palace inspired theme.
- "The Perfect Aparoid Dinner" by Xaleph - Uses out of context voice clips from Star Fox Assault to have Fox and Krystal talking about having dinner. Reminds me of the Zelda CDi animations (King of Hyrule: "I wonder what's for dinner.")
- "Bazooka Polace" by Rockos feat. KezyCP - Another Krazoa Palace inspired theme. Kinda want to use part of this for my podcast theme.
You can download the album on the project page in both MP3 and lossless FLAC, though the lossless option will require using a BitTorrent app. Or, you can listen to the full album on YouTube:
Check out the album art. Glad Krystal is right where she should be; next to Fox.
Sorry I was a bit late on posting this. Thanks to everyone who sent me the info.
Glen Powell Announced as Fox McCloud Voice Actor for Movie
In an Instagram post, Glen Powell announced that he will be playing Fox McCloud in the upcoming Mario Galaxy Movie. He's been in Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and a bunch more. I'm not super familiar with him as an actor, but that's ok. What matters is whether he can bring life to the character.
I listened to his voice in a few clips. He seems like he could absolutely do the heroic, commanding voice of Fox, possibly even with a hint of youth and naïve that Fox might have as a new mercenary. I just hope they all take the voice and the role serious as a serious character.
And that's a sweet flight vest. Where can I get one?
New Star Fox Game Teased by Credible Leaker
Podcaster and relatively reliable leaker, Nate the Hate, just posted a podcast in which he revealed that he had information on a new Star Fox game intended to be announced very soon. I'm not super familiar with him, but I am assured that he is usually pretty accurate when he makes definite statements like this. It would make sense for Nintendo to announce something Star Fox related right after hyping up Fox McCloud in the Mario Galaxy movie.
Here's what Nate said, specifically:
- Summer 2026 Switch 2 Lineup will begin with a new Star Fox.
- Will be revealed before May, likely shadow-dropped on social media as a trailer.
- Coming out before the end of 2026.
- Classic style Star Fox style game.
- "Very good" visuals.
- Online multiplayer.
- He might have been joking, but he referenced Falco saying gibberish speech like in the SNES game.
Time will tell. It sounds plausable, but so have a lot of other rumors of past years. Keep your eyes on Nintendo's social media, just in case.
Fox McCloud Revealed in Mario Galaxy Movie
I did NOT have this on my bingo card. Today, Fox McCloud was revealed as a character in the Super Mario Galaxy movie. Seems like it might have been a joke or AI, but nope, this is official. Hard to believe that a fully animated movie is the first official Star Fox media release since December 2018 when Super Smash Bros Ultimate released with a Krystal Assist Trophy among other Star Fox cameos.
Super excited to see Fox, of course. He's great and all, but with Mario and Donkey Kong in the last movie and now Star Fox, a few questions come to mind.
- How much of the Star Fox team is in the movie? I can see it going either way. Fox could be scouting alone, or the Star Fox team as a whole could be involved.
- Is Krystal going to make an appearance? That would be amazing, but I doubt it. Not because I don't think they want to, but because I think they want to tell the beginning of the story of Star Fox first, which means Lylat Wars.
- Star Fox movie when? I can see Lylat Wars making a good movie, then an exciting sequel with the subtitle "Dinosaur Planet".
- This is all a setup for a Super Smash Bros movie event (a la Avengers Endgame), isn't it?
In retrospect, we should have seen this coming. Several of you did, posting this screenshot from one of the more obscure trailers from Feburary 17th.
See that on the left side? That's definitely Fox! To my embarrassment, I saw people talking about this online a week or two ago, and I thought it was an AI hoax. There are certainly a lot of them out there now. Now that I look at it more closely, even if I hadn't known today's announcement, I think I would have erred on the side of believing it.
On that note, there's a lot of AI hoax stuff out there of Fox interacting with Mario already, trying to get views or mess with people. Stay safe out there and only trust official sources!
The movie comes out on April 1st, just a couple days away. I went ahead and got tickets to a midnight showing, so I will be able to bring you the first official Star Fox coverage in a long time! So if you're interested in finding out what role Fox plays, as well as what implied future plans for Nintendo's "cinematic universe", just check back here on the Krystal Archive at about 2 AM (Central) on April 1st.
World’s Largest Krystal Figurine Finished
About 6 months ago, we posted about this project as it finished the 3D printing phase. Now, after months of off-and-on sanding, prepping, and painting, CardScientist and his wife Liana.can.art have completed this massive Krystal statue, a 1/3rd scale model!
Since last time we posted about this project, they did all the sanding, priming, and painting to complete it. They had issues with the 3D printed staff being too weak, so it was replaced with a wooden dowel, which was then hand-painted with all the intricate details. As for the base she stands on, they were going to 3D print it, but the printer jammed during that part, so instead they used a hobby-store bought wooden stand, combined with a bunch of weights inside it to keep it stable.
This project was a birthday present from Liana.can.art to her husband, CardScientist. Because they are so generous, they are making the 3D model files available to everyone, so anyone can 3D print their own Krystal statue at any size! More about that in a bit. But first, here's some interesting information about the build.
Stats
- Modeling/Design Time: Roughly 2 months
- 3D Printing Time: 8.8 days, or about 212 hours
- Sanding and Priming Time: 5-6 months during weekends, on and off
- Painting Time: 1.5 months
- Start to Finish Time: Around 11 months
- Height: 21 inches without the base (see Pepsi can for scale)
Download
Want to make your own? Of course you do! You can download the files for 3D printing this project yourself either on Google Drive or Thingiverse. The Google Drive version has a copy of the full model that hasn't been broken up into individual parts if you want to choose how to split the model up for printing yourself.
If you print one for yourself, please let us know. We'd love to see it. And please thank CardScientist and Liana.can.art for making it available!
Gallery
Check out these sweet photos of the finished product.
New Fox + Krystal Cosplay Photos
I got some more photos from the cosplaying duo Tom_MJCosplay, who have a Fox and Krystal cosplay they've been showing off at several cons the last few years. Check out their skit if you haven't seen it already.
As a side note, I must make a correction on that previous post. I had said that the extra lines they created for Fox and Krystal were AI generated, but I was mistaken. They were done by Tom and MJ themselves. WOW!
First, in late May 2025, there was Anime North. After I posted about their skit, I got an email with info about how they used their own voices for the skit and they won the award for Best Mascot Stage in the Artisan Category, right below Master level. They also included some photos.
Then there was Rouyn Con 2025 in July, where they were invited as special guests. They look forward to participating again at Rouyn Con 2026 starting on July 18, 2026.
Finally, there's G-Anime 2026, which took place last weekend from January 16-18. On Saturday, the 17th, Tom and MJ once again donned their vulpine costumes to explore the con. They sent me a couple of photos.
Site Update Process (Part 1)
It's no secret that the Krystal Archive hasn't had a major change since 2012 when the site was taken offline due to a massive hack. Plus, I never got around to bringing all the historical content back online because that was right as I started having a real job for the first time. Things slipped.
So, I will occasionally make a post like this one to chronicle my process of restoring the site to better than its former glory, and reworking the technology to be much better, allowing for faster and more consistent posting of Krystal news and features.
Today, in addition to doing a real news post, I also did technical work:
- Made complete backup of the entire site and its data. (Always a good idea.)
- Updated the backend software and plugins.
- Fixed all of the YouTube embedded videos. (YouTube changed requirements for embeds and broke things.)
- Installed a new helper to simplify the prose-writing process. (No more directly editing HTML for me!)
- Updated my Gab account, which had lost my profile images somehow. (I dual-post on Twitter and Gab. Maybe soon I'll also add BlueSky to that list.)
Stay tuned for more updates like this. A lot of these will go under your radar, but I'm focusing on making the site easier to run, faster, and more easy to expand.