You guys are radically overthinking this.
For the first Mario movie, they'll probably play it very safe (think Star Wars: The Force Awakens). They'll hit on a lot of Mario nostalgia, they'll hit the right funny notes with mass appeal, etc.
After that, there'll be more opportunity to pursue other things, but in a venture of this size, you absolutely need to make sure that you play it safe on the first movie (or there won't be a sequel or a Zelda movie or whatever else you want).
For the first Mario movie, they'll probably play it very safe (think Star Wars: The Force Awakens). They'll hit on a lot of Mario nostalgia, they'll hit the right funny notes with mass appeal, etc.
After that, there'll be more opportunity to pursue other things, but in a venture of this size, you absolutely need to make sure that you play it safe on the first movie (or there won't be a sequel or a Zelda movie or whatever else you want).