Some alleged concept art from The Super Mario Bros. Movie was recently unearthed, and one character in particular has gotten everyone talking. By ‘everyone’, I mean weirdos who spend too much time on the internet, and I don’t mean that as an insult. I can say that, for I am one of you. Rather than Mario, Peach, or any of the stars of the show, the character is Toadsworth.Toadsworth both is and isn’t in the movie. A character that acts like him, performs the duties he does, and shares the same basic lore is present though. However, the character looks nothing like him and lacks his voice. As soon as the movie dropped, the kind of cinemagoers who attended with notebooks to write down all of the references rushed online to bemoan the lack of Toadsworth. Now, their cause has been justified.Related: The Mario Movie Peaches Song Will Not Be Nominated For An Oscar, Eligible Or NotThe concept art, which was quickly deleted after it was shared and thus is hard to verify, clearly shows Toadsworth in a gathering with Peach and the other Toads. It seemed as if the role had been written for him, and this art is further proof that it was. In the games - particularly Super Mario Sunshine - Toadsworth is Peach’s steward and closest advisor, and seems to be the oldest Toad with a slightly creaky voice and a thick white moustache.

In the movie, Peach has an advisor who serves at her war table and who helps direct the other Toads, but he’s just a regular blue Toad. It’s strange to keep this character and not have it just be Toadsworth. Perhaps his delivery and catchphrases, which consist of stuffy English phrases like ‘jolly good!’, were deemed too distracting. It’s also not that original to have an eccentric English professor, but seeing as the movie replaced him with nothing, it’s easy to see why fans feel the loss.

It’s nothing new for characters to be cut from movies. Several actors film roles only for whole scenes to be axed. Recently, Ana de Armas appeared in the trailer for Yesterday, but was cut from the final film after some scenes were removed. As a result, some de Armas fans sued for false advertising. Nintendo and lllumination are probably safe from overly litigious Toadsworth fans, but it serves to highlight how common the process is.

In fact, Toadsworth wasn’t the only one cut from the final film if this artwork is to be believed. This gathering of the Toads also includes Captain Toad, who presumably would have had a larger role, as well as Toadette. The female Toad is spotted in several scenes, as if the adventure with Peach and Mario was originally planned to have her alongside them in a major role.

She might have been cut for a male Toad for gender demographics (too many girls = girls movie, too many boys = no such thing, at least in marketing circles), to avoid having to explain how a populace survives with just one woman, or to save her for a future movie. Given Luigi’s Mansion was in the concept art, Miyamoto expects more Nintendo movies, fans are planning an NCU (as are Chris Pratt and Charlie Day), and the fact Daisy is absent, it does feel as though some things were saved for future endeavours. There is hope for Bowsette yet.

Most of the rest of the art, which I have to stress might be totally fake, lines up with what we’ve seen. A major standout besides the characters is Fire Mario. In the film, we see Peach and Donkey Kong use this power, but not Mario himself. However, I think it’s more interesting to see unfamiliar characters with power ups, so I’m fine with no Fire Mario. I’ve seen that before.

I’ve also seen Toadsworth before, but I still wanted him in the movie, goddamnit. Despite the made up war between critics and fans, I gave the movie a good review and don’t care that much about Easter Eggs. I thought it was a charming Illumination picture with entertaining set pieces, even if it felt oddly rushed at times. It’s fine. Toadsworth wouldn’t have made it materially any better or worse. But I still wanted him there, and having a character in his role doing his job while not being him is bizarre. If this concept art is legit, then it’s even stranger.

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