What a Legend of Zelda film should actually look like

Nintendo has had a fraught history with their dabbles in the visual medium. From the early days of their success, production companies have tried to bring the franchises over to television screens and theaters. It started with Captain N and the Super Mario Supershow. Neither show did a great job of capturing that Nintendo magic, the latter mixing odd live-action segments with animated ones.

The animated segments of the Super Mario Supershow were fine, although pretty generic of late ’80s animation. On Friday’s, the Super Mario Supershow would air a Legend of Zelda animated series. This series of 13 episodes is our one and only glimpse into what the Zelda series would look like outside the realm of video games.

Unfortunately, while it has its defenders, it’s pretty awful. The characterizations are completely bonkers, most especially Link, who seems completely annoyed to be there.

After those series wrapped up, Nintendo dipped their toe into full-length movies. The Super Mario Bros. movie premiered in 1993 and was a complete disaster. Much like everything else mentioned thus far, it has its fans, but the movie is a creative misfire on all levels. It is far too literal in bringing the Super Mario series to life. It features not only the explanation that Mario’s last name is Mario, thus allowing them to be called the Mario brothers, (meaning his given name is Mario Mario and his brother is Luigi Mario), but a scenery-chewing performance by Dennis Hopper as Koopa.

That sentence still makes me laugh nearly thirty years after it premiered.
After that nightmare of a film, Nintendo retreated from the medium altogether. It wasn’t until the Pokémon movie in 1999 that we got anything that was tangentially Nintendo related on the big screen. Forever in the hope of The Legend of Zelda fans, most especially after the early aughts boon of high fantasy films, is another stab at making film set in the Zelda universe.

A brief history of potential Legend of Zelda movies

A Zelda movie has long rumored to be kicking around. Just looking at our own archives at Zelda Universe, no less than 10 news articles have been posted about the possibility. As recently as 2013, Aonuma claims he was speaking with Miyamoto about the idea of a Zelda movie.

Their idea, at the time, was to make something interactive, not just a movie. They considered, if it was ever to be made, the idea of having audience members bring their 3DSs into the theater and interact with the film somehow.

I’m all for innovation, but that idea didn’t resonate at the time and feels silly in retrospect. I understand these two creative geniuses not wanting to just make a movie, but that’s why you leave it to the movie professionals.

So, movie professionals have thrown their two cents in as well. Imagi Animation Studios, makers of Astro Boy, did a spec pitch for a Zelda movie. In the brief trailer, Zelda is seen transporting a box with the Triforce logo on top. Then, she is attacked. Link, on Epona, arrives to save the day.

It is interesting watching the trailer 13 years later. The animation screams mid-2000s, and while the action is fluid, if Imagi had gotten the chance to make the movie, it would have been absolutely serviceable, I’m sure. Which is not high praise. Zelda is our favorite and therefore the series deserves something much more than serviceable.

I tend to side with the director Jordan Vogt-Roberts of another perennially-in-development film, Metal Gear Solid, when he says whatever the movie is, it needs to not just be The Lord of the Rings, it needs to embrace how “quirky and bizarre Zelda is.”

Then, lastly, that horrible, confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, but then unconfirmed by Iwata, Netflix Zelda series. According to the pitch, it was going to be modeled as a family friendly Game of Thrones series. Uh huh. As of right now, late 2020, those rumors have resurfaced with Timothy Chalamet attached. We can let those rumors continue to simmer.

In the meantime, let’s take a moment and really examine what I believe would be best to see out of a Zelda movie and who should be the players involved.

The big questions

Big question #1 – style

I am drawing a line in the sand and saying that a Zelda adaptation should be a trilogy of films. It should not be a series. If you want to make a Zelda series, fine, but do it after the trilogy of films and do not make it about Link fighting Ganon for the Triforce. That will not work. Also, since I’m writing this, I have considered the merits of animation and will draw another line in the sand: this needs to be a live-action Zelda film. I think that an animated Zelda film could work nicely but would require a very talented hand. I shiver to think we would get something like Imagi had pitched, or worse.

Big question #2 – tone

The first thing that would need to be established is tone. What do we want from a Zelda movie? Knowing how Nintendo rolls, it is highly unlikely (read: never) that we’d ever get the gritty “realism” of Game of Thrones, even if that was Netflix’s intention. When I read that Netflix wants to do a “family-friendly” Game of Thrones, I read that as it wants wide, overarching stories and politics.

Having said that, I don’t even think we would get a film in the style of The Lord of the Rings. There are moments in those films that would scare a lot of the potential Zelda movie audience. I think the films would skew more in the direction of The Chronicles of Narnia films, at least for the first outing.

The vision here is a trilogy of films that ultimately leads to a huge battle with beast Ganon in the third and final movie. The movies as they go will get progressively darker, but the first film, telling the first half of Ocarina of Time, should be a little more kid-friendly, like the way Harry Potter got progressively darker. Hopefully, the quality will be more in line with The Lord of the Rings.

Ok, so we have our tone. What should the story be and how should it be told. As said, we are doing this live-action. The Zelda fans demand it!

Big question #3 – story

No one movie will be an adaptation of a single game. This is our one shot at glory, let’s not assume we’re getting three films here.

The three films should be laid out as such:

Film One: We open with voice over, a sage Rauru, speaking of the prophecy of the boy-with-no-fairy. That he will rise up and defeat the cyclical evil of ancient. Cut to Link, asleep in his tree house, a fairy, a bright light, awakening him at day break. Hey!

The rest of the first film would follow the trials and tribulations as Link navigates dungeons and the relations between the races of Hyrule. We would get introduced to Saria, who in this film would be a touchstone for Link, not only of home, but of that lost innocence, and, additionally, Zelda. This Zelda would be more like the Breath of the Wild Zelda, duty-bound, but unsure if she has the desire, nay the want, to carry the burden to fight the forces of evil. This is not a flaky Zelda, more of one that is world-weary and more mature than her counterpart in Link. The three main dungeons of Link’s youth would be the same as the child parts of Ocarina. He will get his mission explained to him and have to free the Great Deku Tree, followed by an introduction to other races with the Gorons, and culminating in a spectacular set piece in the belly of Jabu-Jabu. The finale of the film should be a brief showdown with the series ultimate villain, Ganondorf. In the meanwhile, we would be introduced to one of his shadow henchmen, the evil wizard and advisor to the King of Hyrule, Aghanim. We see his betrayal of the king and Impa escaping with the princess.

Finally, the film should end with Link going into the Temple of Time. Just before the credits, his eyes open as an adult. Some important notes to my treatment. There is no Ocarina of Time. I don’t think that would play well on a theater screen. What we want is to extrapolate the feeling of adventure and ensuing dread out of the Zelda universe, not necessarily all the tropes. When video game movies lean harder into the tropes, nearly all of them are bad. Last, the movie should strike a balance between Link and Zelda, their time spent in the story should be at worst 60/40. Zelda will be our insight into the ongoings of Hyrule and the meat to the story.

Film two: If the first film was too much Ocarina for you, the second won’t be much better. There is a reason that Ocarnia is the most famous and well-loved of the series. It told a complete and highly compelling story, something that was missing even from A Link to the Past. The second film opens with adult Link. He has stumbled out upon the wayward world that has befallen since Ganondorf took over. His first action is to go back into the forest to find Saria, but he discovers she is gone and that his friends are still children. They remember a Link, but feared he died in the first showdown with Ganondorf — a nice wink to the timeline. From there, Link will rescue Epona and then discover that Ganondorf is developing and gathering power in the sacred realm, which has been perverted into the Dark World. The Dark World is one of the touchstones of the entire Legend of Zelda franchise and should not go unused. Here, the Dark World is an inverted Hyrule, without the charm of Lorule.

It will fit perfectly in the middle chapter aesthetic that is typically the darkest. The Kokiri tell Link that Saria is gone and that rumor has it she is trapped in the Dark World. He ventures there with the help of a Goron who heard an entrance was in the Bottom of the Well in Kakariko Village. When Link goes there to seek more information, he’ll meet Sheik and get the backstory to the Sheikah. She gives him the Moon Pearl that will allow him to keep his same features when he enters the Dark World. There he will encounter people that he has met along the way, but they will be harsh and opposite. Eventually, he will find that in order to bring Ganondorf from the Dark World and defeat him, he’ll need to enlist the help of the Sages. This is a chance to find Saria again. This ultimately leads to a showdown with Aghanim, the dark wizard of Hyrule. After he defeats Aghanim, the Dark World breaks and begins to bleed into Hyrule. Link must venture back to save his land.

Film 3 – Link has grouped up with Sheik and various races across Hyrule. His mission: find the Master Sword, the one sword that will defeat Ganondorf and seal him away. They venture across Hyrule, one already broken but now also infected with the evil from the Dark World. He finally finds the Master Sword deep in a hidden forest. With Master Sword in hand, Link heads to Hyrule Castle to do battle. At the final confrontation, Sheik reveals herself for who she truly is.

Link defeats Ganondorf and must do battle with earth-shaking Ganon. He defeats him with the help of the Triforce and his friends, Ganon is sealed back into the normal Sacred Realm and peace returns to Hyrule. The movie ends the way Ocarina does, with Link going back to being a child, except he has the memories of all he has done and he can never be free of it. So, Link, unable to shake what he has seen and done, sets out for his next adventure away from Hyrule. “Saria’s Song” plays in the background and in Link’s mind as Epona takes him into the great unknown.

Big question #4 – director

Who would direct something so magnificent?

Not JJ Abrams.

Who should be the lead actors?

Wait, let’s backtrack.

Who, not named JJ, should direct something so magnificent?

This is my favorite question, because there are so many good answers, but only a couple of great ones.

Let’s go over the easy ones:

Peter Jackson would never direct a Zelda movie. I think he is done with fantasy and that is fine. Who needs a retread? We need someone that is going to blaze their own trail.

Duncan Jones would be a great choice. He is a self-proclaimed gamer! He made the best video game movie, Source Code. And another called Warcraft. I do truly like this choice and think he is just the person a studio would want to handle it, thoughts on Warcraft withheld. He’s not my first choice though.

Brad Bird would be another inspired choice! He hangs out more in the realm of superhero fantasy than high fantasy, but he has that touch for translating what are, ostensibly children’s stories, into adult ones that still appeal to kids.

Kathryn Bigelow is the foremost action director and would make a raw and killer Zelda movie. She hasn’t had a hand in fantasy and I think it could take her style to a whole other place.

Ridley Scott couldn’t make one that wasn’t boring! He would make it about Kaepora Gaebora! Then release a director’s cut that was better but no one would watch it!

Edgar Wright has obviously proven his mantle to shoot just about anything. He can handle all the whimsical parts, but I wonder about the seriousness. The tones of his films are light and playful and are constantly winking at you. Not exactly what I want out of a Zelda film.

Last, Alfonso Curan could kill a Zelda movie. He has it all, the whimsy, the seriousness, the absurdity, and he would be able to balance it all. First runner up choice there.

He’s my choice:

Cary Fukanaga.

That’s right. Mr. True Detective. Mr. Maniac. The man can do anything and he does a fantastic job balancing the real with the surreal. Plus, he can bring the grittiness when he needs to. He would bring a level of auteur to the whole project. He is my first and only odd ball off-the-wall choice.

Big question #5 – leads

Link – a nobody. You have to cast a nobody and I think you make him mute.

Zelda – Julia Garner is my first and only choice. Not only does she have the acting chops, but she’s also an award-winning actress and she looks the part. You could put her in the dress style more of the earlier games or in the pants-kicking-butt style of later games; she could do both. I think she could make a mean Sheik as well.

Ganondorf – In this interpretation of the Zelda series, we’ll cast someone that looks more like the Ocarina of Time Ganondorf and not the incarnation seen in The Wind Waker. That Ganondorf skews more toward an Emperor Palpatine of the Star Wars universe. We’re looking for a Darth Vader. We could always look no further than Adam Driver, who could pull off the wicked sideburns.

Ganondorf is typically shown as imposing, with a huge hulking figure, or at the very least, tall. My mind gravitated toward a Rami Malek, but I don’t think he has the build. A bit of stunt casting could lead to the likes of a Jason Mamoa or The Rock taking the lead, but each wouldn’t bring an aura of evil that Ganondorf requires. Ganondorf, on one hand, is a diplomat, so that side of him must come through. On the other hand, he is conniving and evil, and in the film, his evilness would need to be much more explicitly laid out than it is in the games. In Ocarina, we only get the feeling of what Ganondorf has wrought. Link awakens in the Temple of Time to a ruined world and ReDeads everywhere. We don’t actually see the ReDeads move in, the world die, or Ganondof ascend to the throne. My choice here would be Amr Waked. He skews a little older than Ganondorf would be when he takes the throne, but could pull it off. He has the look and at 5’ 10” we could slap some boots on him and make him more imposing.

A legendary pipe dream

The most important thing for this or any other theoretical production is not to fall into the trap of making a “video game movie.” The Legend of Zelda is one of the most revered media franchises across all mediums. There are not very many properties that have maintained fervent fandom for thirty-plus years. The first foray into a live-action medium for the franchise requires the utmost care, attention to detail, and seriousness while not losing the heart and slightly goofy soul of the franchise.