Lego, the Danish toy brand that continues to be the joy of children around the world and the bane of parental feet across the globe, is expanding its wildly successfulLego Super Mariosets. FromLuigi to YoshitoPeach, and evena giant Bowser, now we can add the Kong family to the world of Lego Super Mario.“We can’t wait to show you the new additions to the world of Lego Super Mario!” readtoday’s announcement. The short video posted to Twitter confirms Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, Dixie Kong, and Funky Kong figures are all coming. We’re not sure what other jungle-themed pieces might come along with them, but hopefully, we’ll get something as elaborateas the fully-functional Mario levela fan built a little while ago.Related:The Zelda Locations That Would Make The Best Lego Sets"There’s a Kong in every kid," Lego wrote, adding: “Each set is sold separately.”
Lego didn’t say when the Donkey Kong sets would hit Lego Super Mario, but last month’sMario Day presentationsaid we can expect to see the first of these sets to arrive over the summer. That’s either before or after the Dry Bowser Castle Battle set that was shown in all its boney glory, which arrives on August 1.
Donkey Kong’s popularity has recently gotten a huge boost thanks to the success of the Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is well on its way to becoming the highest-grossing video game adaptation ever made. The entire Kong family plays a prominent role in the film’s plot, with Mario facing off with Donkey Kong in a hilarious duel between these two great Nintendo franchises.
Despite the film’s success, early reviews for the Super Mario Bros. Movie were lukewarm at best. Nintendo boss and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto was pleasantly surprised when the movie became a roaring success, and even suspects that theearly negative reviews might have helped more than they hurt.
“While many foreign critics have given the movie relatively low ratings, I think that also contributed to the movie’s notoriety and buzz,” Miyamoto said at a press event in Japan. “I did have a level of expectations that this movie would also do well [like Super Nintendo World], but I was very surprised that it went beyond what I could have imagined when it finally came out.”
The Mario movie’s success has been universal, but fans might be surprised to find out that the Japanese version of the film has a different script. If you want to see what the Japanese (and non-Chris Pratt) version of Mario says, you’ll be able to see somespecial Japanese screeningsat select theaters on Friday.
