Charles Martinet, the fan-favorite voice actor of Mario, will now serve as the official Nintendo Mario Ambassador. (Images: Nintendo of America)

The iconic voice actor of Mario, Charles Martinet, will now be the official Nintendo Mario Ambassador. Martinet and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto shared the news for all Nintendo fans.

Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Charles Martinet would be retiring from voicing Nintendo's famous plumber-turned-hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, with Super Mario Bros. Wonder employing a new voice cast. This, of course, was met with sad reactions from both longtime and newer Nintendo fans as Martinet has effectively been the beloved signature voice of Mario since the 1990s. But while Martinet would no longer be voice acting for the video games, he will now be playing a bigger role in promoting the Nintendo brand across the world.

The news comes directly from Nintendo, presented as a short video with Charles Martinet and legendary Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto sharing the details of the former's new role. This video was posted on Nintendo of America's official X (formerly Twitter) feed.

Here’s a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet regarding the change of Mario’s voice actor, announced on 8/21. pic.twitter.com/4mOpD2Cx3a

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 7, 2023

Sporting a red Super Mario t-shirt, Charles Martinet is all smiles as the video starts. Plus, Martinet's new official title as Nintendo's "Mario Ambassador" is proudly displayed over his name.

Hello everybody, it's-a me, Charles! You know, today is a very big day for Nintendo, the Mushroom Kingdom, and for me!

Now, you may know me for voicing characters from Nintendo's games like [in appropriate character voices] Super Mario! Luigi! Wario! And Waluigi! And today, I'm happy to share with all of you that I'm stepping into a brand-new role as the Mario Ambassador.

The beloved voice actor goes on to explain his new role:

Traveling around the world, sharing the joy of the Mario family, and being able to continue meeting with all of you wonderful fans who I cherish absolutely the most, is a great, great honor. I'm very much looking forward to seeing all of you at events around the world in the years to come.

Martinet then makes way for Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto-san is the Senior Managing Director and "Creative Fellow" of Nintendo. He is famously credited as the creator of not just the Super Mario franchise, but also Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and a slew of other Nintendo video game brands.

Miyamoto-san (speaking in his native Japanese) related his history working with Martinet, starting with 1996's Super Mario 64 for the N64. The famed video game designer also shared how Martinet endearingly calls him "Papa" and led to explaining for the fans watching what Martinet's position as Mario Ambassador will entail:

For all of you watching, please know that in this role Charles will continue to travel around the world and meet fans, performing the familiar voices at events, signing autographs, and enjoying interacting with you all.

Shigeru Miyamoto then re-confirmed from the August announcement that Super Mario Bros. Wonder will feature new voice actors, as well as mentioning the game will be released in October this year:

Starting with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which will be released in October, the voices of some Mario characters have become new, so please check them out.

Miyamoto-san closed his part of the announcement by thanking the voice actor for his contributions and asking Nintendo fans to celebrate Charles Martinet's new position as Mario Ambassador:

I am deeply grateful for your thoughtfulness when bringing our characters to life with your voice. I look forward to seeing you enjoy the moments with Nintendo fans at events all around the world.

And for all of you Mario fans, we ask you all to honor Charles-san together with us, and please look forward to seeing him in his new role. Charles-san, thank you very much.

The clip goes back to Martinet, who expresses his gratitude and joy for having the privilege of representing Miyamoto's famous video game creations through his voice talents. Martinet closes things out by sharing his enthusiasm with being able to continue to bring joy and the magical innocence that Nintendo games, and specifically Mario games, have become synonymous with. Appropriately, Martinet finishes with Mario's famous "let's a-go!" expression.

Fans had been concerned that Martinet had not been receiving his due as the iconic voice of Mario for nearly 30 years. This was of particular interest when it was revealed that Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) would be the voice of Mario in the big screen The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with Martinet only voicing an Easter Egg cameo. Plus, the announcement of Martinet's retirement and new voice talents being brought in for Super Mario Bros. Wonder was met with sadness and fans considered it an end of an era.

But with Martinet's new role as Mario Ambassador, he can continue to be the voice of Mario for fans whenever and wherever Nintendo holds or attends major events. What do you think of Charles Martinet's new official role and title of Nintendo's Mario Ambassador?

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is targeted for release on October 20, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch.