The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer features penguins in a central role, but leaves out popular Nintendo characters - but that could be a good thing.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is already proving to be divisive among long-time Mario fans, but the inclusion of the penguins is a promising sign for the film. Produced by Universal and Illumination Studios, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the first attempt to bring Mario and Luigi to the big screen since the negatively reviewed 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros adaptation starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Nintendo has since tended to avoid adapting their video games into Hollywood blockbusters, but the success of 2019s Detective Pikachu has led to the long-awaited cinematic return of the Mario Bros.

Chris Pratt's Mario voice has been the film's biggest talking point since the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer. While Pratt's voice is nothing like Mario from the video games, there is still plenty to like about the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie. Charlie Day is perfectly cast as Luigi and Jack Black's Bowser already looks like it may be the best thing about the movie. Arguably more promising is the prominent role of the penguins in The Super Mario Bros. Movie's first trailer.

Related: Why Is Luigi So Scared In The Super Mario Bros Trailer?

The penguins are featured heavily in The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer despite being super obscure characters, and that's a great thing. It suggests that the movie is going to dive deep into Mario Bros lore, which should reassure fans of the video games that the same mistakes the 1993 adaptation made won't be repeated. The penguins may not have a role bigger than naively standing up to Bowser, the best part of Mario’s trailer, but having them featured opens the door for a range of unique characters and kingdoms for Mario and Luigi to visit during The Super Mario Bros. Movie and any future sequels.

The penguin's first video game adventure with Mario was in Super Mario 64, where they featured in two levels that would earn the mustached plumber a Power Star. Since then the penguins have been a regular feature of the Super Mario, Mario Kart, and Mario Party series as non-playable characters in the cold and icy kingdoms. Penguins are usually friendly in the Nintendo games, with some willing to chat with Mario, but occasionally they do act as obstacles in way of missions even though they are not intentionally causing harm.

In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the penguins are set to have a fun supporting role. As shown in the first trailer, the penguins square off with Jack Black’s Bowser in a battle that they quite quickly lose, but they do put up more of a fight than the passive penguins from the video games. The penguins are led by the brave but naive King Penguin, a character made for the movie and voiced by Khary Payton best known as The Walking Dead's King Ezekiel. It's unlikely that the penguins will appear in The Super Mario Bros. Movie in any greater capacity than the scene shown in the trailer, but featuring them this early in the film's promotional material excitingly suggests that more obscure characters and places could be featured.

Next: Yep, Universal Knows You Might Hate The Super Mario Bros. Movie