Earlier this year, Nintendo announced the voice cast for Illumination’s upcoming animated Super Mario movie, which included the rather polarizing casting of Chris Pratt as the titular Mario.

Speaking to outlet toofab, co-producer Chris Meledandri defended the decision to cast Chris Pratt as Mario, claiming that the voice he uses is “phenomenal” and that he cannot wait for fans to hear it.

All I can tell you is the voice that he’s doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal, Yeah I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Meledandri also addressed concerns about Pratt attempting Mario’s iconic Italian accent, giving hints that the accent may be addressed in a “self-referential joke” within the film, and might not be a defining characteristic of Pratt’s take on the character:

“Well, as an Italian American myself, I understand, You know, I understand the comments. Charlie Day, who’s playing Luigi, actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah so that’s our nod.”

“We cover it in the movie, so you’ll see we definitely nod to that.”

“That’s not the tenor of the performance throughout the film,”

That said, until we actually get more teasers or trailers for the film, it is likely that the casting choice will continue to be a point of uncertainty amongst fans. We will be sure to report back with more details as they come.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.