Would Mario and Luigi even get the chance to have a heart-to-heart in a Luigi's Mansion movie? Assuming the movie doesn't start with Luigi getting a letter in the mail about winning a mansion, I'm still pretty confident that Mario is going to be absent for about 90% of the movie's runtime (to the ire of fans who stand the idea of their favorite characters being trapped and needing to be rescued as a driving force for a narrative)
Also, what would Luigi even be insecure about? I like how confident Lu is in who he is and his fears and anxieties are actually quite rational, he doesn't really have weird phobias. Heck, as we've seen in the Galaxy movie, not once was Luigi even terrified of Bowser anymore.
If the Mario Galaxy Movie is any indication, I doubt that a Luigi’s Mansion movie is going to follow the same story beats as the Luigi’s Mansion games; which means that famous letter claiming Luigi won a free mansion is highly unlikely. The most we can count on is King Boo, a bunch of ghosts, and a mansion of some sort. But the plot… like with the two other films… is undoubtedly going to be its own original thing.
But even assuming that you’re right and Mario’s going to be captured for most of the runtime, wasn’t that exactly what happened to Luigi in the first film? But they still put aside a quiet moment at the beginning that showed him having a short conversation with his brother, getting to the heart of Mario’s insecurity. I’m not banking on much, but 30 seconds is really all I need to establish the “Point A” of Luigi’s character arc.
Speaking of… “what would Luigi even be insecure about”? Let me tell you what Luigi has to be insecure about:
1. He is still vulnerable to states of mindless panic when he gets frightened, often hampering his ability to think straight in tense situations. As rational as these fears may be, they’re still going to hobble him if he hopes to be a hero like his brother.
2. He is really bad at working alone. He is fantastic when he’s got Mario and/or Yoshi by his side, but solo he tends to completely cave to his own anxious tendencies. Compare that to Mario, who not only has his victory against Donkey Kong under his belt, but was able to momentarily hold his own without Powerups against both Bowser AND Bowser Junior.
3. He has little faith in his own ability to make decisions. Thinking back to the bros’ Brooklyn origins, Mario was regarded as moronically-bullheaded, while Luigi was outright called an idiot and talked over as though he is incapable of thinking for himself. Mario eventually learned that his ambitiousness is one of his strengths, but Luigi? He might have discovered a form of bravery within himself, but to this day he seems to struggle with forming conclusions without looking to his brother first.
Movie Luigi may appear a bit more confident compared to his game counterpart, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a lot of the same insecurities bubbling under the surface. All the evidence is there, it just needs to be dragged out into the spotlight.
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