It is the white whale of the gaming industry. For over two decades, fans have been screaming for a Super Smash Bros animated series, yet we’re still sitting here with nothing but fan-made animations and high-budget cinematic trailers to keep us company. Every time a new Nintendo Direct drops or a major studio announces a partnership with a gaming giant, the rumors start swirling again. You’ve seen them. "Netflix is developing a Smash show!" or "Illumination is working on a Nintendo Cinematic Universe!"
Most of it is junk.
The reality is that a Super Smash Bros animated series is a legal and narrative nightmare that would make even the most seasoned producer break out in a cold sweat. It’s not just about getting Mario and Link in the same room anymore. You’re dealing with a roster that spans dozens of different corporate entities, from Sega and Bandai Namco to Microsoft and Disney. One wrong move and the whole house of cards collapses.
The World of Subspace Emissary and What We Almost Had
If you want to talk about the closest we’ve ever actually come to a legitimate Super Smash Bros animated series, you have to look back at Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. The Subspace Emissary wasn't just a gimmick. It was a full-blown cinematic campaign.
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Masahiro Sakurai, the series creator, famously poured an ungodly amount of resources into those cutscenes. You remember the scene where the Halberd looms over the stadium? Or when Snake hides in a cardboard box while Pikachu and Zero Suit Samus sneak through a facility? Those weren't just clips; they were a proof of concept. They showed that you could tell a story without a single line of dialogue. It was pure visual storytelling, relying on the inherent personality of the characters rather than a script.
But here’s the kicker: Sakurai hated how those cutscenes were uploaded to YouTube. He felt the "reward" for playing the game was stripped away when people could just watch the movie online. This actually led to the "World of Light" in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate having significantly fewer cinematic moments.
Honestly, it’s kind of a bummer.
If the man behind the wheel is hesitant to put cinemantics in his own game because of the internet, imagine how he feels about handing the keys to a third-party animation studio. Nintendo is notoriously protective of their IP. They don't just want a show; they want perfection. After the 1993 Mario movie disaster, they spent thirty years keeping their characters in a vault. It took the massive success of the recent Super Mario Bros. Movie and the Detective Pikachu film to finally loosen the grip.
The Licensing Boss Battle
Let's get real for a second. The biggest hurdle for a Super Smash Bros animated series isn't the writing—it’s the lawyers.
When you play Smash, you see a unified game. But behind the scenes, that game is a miracle of contract law. Sora from Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Steve belongs to Microsoft. Joker belongs to Atlus (Sega). To make a TV show, you don't just need a license for a game; you need the media rights for television and streaming.
- The Third-Party Problem: Would Disney allow Mickey Mouse-adjacent characters to appear in a show produced by a competitor? Probably not without a massive cut of the backend.
- Character Tiers: How do you decide who gets the spotlight? If Mario gets ten minutes of screen time and Sonic only gets two, SEGA might not be too happy about their brand representation.
- The Voice Actor Scramble: Bringing back the original voices for every character across different languages is an administrative headache that would cost millions before a single frame is even animated.
It’s a mess.
Most people think you just draw the characters and go. In reality, every single frame featuring a character like Cloud Strife would likely have to be approved by a committee in Japan. This slows down production to a crawl. This is likely why Nintendo is focusing on individual "solo" movies first. We’re getting a Legend of Zelda live-action movie and a Mario sequel. They’re building the blocks. They aren't jumping straight into the crossover.
Why Fan Projects are Winning (and Losing)
Since Nintendo hasn't stepped up, the community has. Projects like Super Smash Bros. World of Light fan animations or the legendary Super Smash Flash have filled the void. Some of these fan-made "episodes" on YouTube have racked up tens of millions of views.
The problem? Nintendo’s legal team is famously aggressive.
You’ve seen it happen. A fan spends four years animating a beautiful battle sequence, and within 48 hours of it going viral, it gets hit with a DMCA takedown. It’s a weird cycle of "we won't make it, and you can't either." This gatekeeping is part of why the demand for an official Super Smash Bros animated series stays so high. The vacuum is there, but nobody is allowed to fill it.
The "Arcane" Standard: What a Show Actually Needs to Look Like
If a Super Smash Bros animated series ever does happen, it can’t look like a Saturday morning cartoon. The bar has shifted. After Arcane (League of Legends) and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, video game adaptations have to be high art.
Think about the tonal clash. You have Kirby, who is essentially a pink marshmallow, standing next to Bayonetta, who is a hyper-sexualized demon hunter, and Snake, a grizzled war veteran. How do you find a visual style that fits both?
- Option A: The "Spider-Verse" Approach. Different characters keep their own art styles. Mario looks like a 3D render, Link looks like a watercolor painting, and Mr. Game & Watch is a flat 2D sprite. It would be chaotic but brilliant.
- Option B: The Unified Cinematic Style. Everyone is brought into a realistic, gritty world. This is risky because you lose the "Nintendo charm."
- Option C: The "LEGO Movie" Meta-Narrative. This is actually the most likely path. The show acknowledges they are trophies or toys being played with by a "Master Hand." It explains the power scaling and the reason they’re all fighting in the first place.
Actually, the "toy" theory is the only way a Super Smash Bros animated series makes sense. In the original N64 intro, we see a child’s hand setting up the stage. If the show follows a "Toy Story" style logic, the power levels don't matter. Pikachu can beat up a god because that's how the "player" wants it to go.
Without that meta-narrative, the power scaling is a disaster. How does an Isabelle from Animal Crossing survive a hit from Sephiroth? You can’t explain that with "anime logic." You have to explain it with "game logic."
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How to Actually Get Your Smash Fix Right Now
Since a formal Super Smash Bros animated series is still stuck in development hell (or doesn't exist at all), you have to look elsewhere.
First, go back and watch the character reveal trailers from Ultimate. Seriously. If you watch them in order, starting from the Inkling reveal all the way to Sora, they function as a loosely connected seasonal series. The "Everyone is Here" trailer is a masterpiece of editing that captures the hype better than any 22-minute TV episode could.
Second, check out the Palutena’s Guidance conversations within the game itself. The writing there is top-tier. It shows that Nintendo can write funny, self-aware dialogue for these characters when they want to.
The Future: Is a Nintendo Cinematic Universe Inevitable?
With the Nintendo and Illumination partnership expanding, we are looking at a ten-year plan. They are doing the Marvel thing.
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (The "Iron Man" of the franchise).
- The Legend of Zelda (The epic fantasy anchor).
- Donkey Kong or Metroid spin-offs.
- The eventual "Avengers" moment.
That "Avengers" moment is the Super Smash Bros animated series or movie. It won't happen tomorrow. It might not even happen in 2026. But the financial incentive is too big to ignore. The Mario movie made over a billion dollars. A movie where Mario, Link, and Samus team up to fight Tabuu or Master Hand? That’s a two-billion-dollar idea.
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Nintendo is a conservative company. They move slowly. They wait until the technology and the market are exactly where they want them. They aren't going to rush a show out just because Netflix wants a hit. They want the "Smash" brand to remain a premium, "once-in-a-generation" event.
So, for now, we wait. We play the game. We watch the fan edits. We speculate.
If you're looking for the next best thing, keep an eye on the Zelda movie’s production. How they handle the "serious" tone of Link will tell us everything we need to know about how a future crossover would work. If Zelda is a success, the floodgates are officially open.
Actionable Insights for the Smash Community:
- Stop falling for "leaks": Unless it comes from a Nintendo-verified account or a major trade like The Hollywood Reporter, it’s almost certainly fake.
- Support the official releases: The more successful the individual Nintendo movies are, the faster a crossover project will be greenlit.
- Document the "Subspace" era: If you're a creator, analyzing the storytelling of Brawl is the best way to understand how a narrative Smash series would actually function.
- Watch the credits: Look for "Nintendo Pictures," the new studio Nintendo acquired (formerly Dynamo Pictures). They are the ones who will likely be handling the heavy lifting for any future animation projects.
The dream of a Super Smash Bros animated series isn't dead. It's just in the middle of a very long respawn timer.