Welp, Nintendo and Sony are already in development on a live-action Legend of Zelda movie and our brains are buzzin’. The announcement was, unsurprisingly, light on the details Zelda-heads are most interested in learning about, which has only made skepticism and speculation more rampant. Who is going to play Link? Will he talk? Why the heck is this movie going to be in live-action?
All valid questions, but none of them address what we believe to be the biggest concern: of all the games in the mainline series, which one is going to be adapted for the film’s story?
It makes sense that Nintendo’s next project after The Super Mario Bros. Movie is going to be a Zelda movie. If Mario is #1 on the call sheet, Link and Zelda are #2 and #3. However, the two franchises present opposite storytelling challenges, especially in the context of adaptation. Super Mario’s repetitive, paper-thin plotlines – as charming as they are – forced the filmmakers to pad out the story and expand on the series’ already beloved characters. Though some critics were quick to call their attempts uninspired, everyone knew that the film would be buoyed by its characters and its animation.
The Legend of Zelda, meanwhile, is a series heralded for its engrossing stories, exciting characters, and powerful themes. Link’s ongoing quest as The Hero of Hyrule is a strong adventure saga, complete with a complex female foil in Zelda and a larger-than-life nemesis in Ganondorf. The franchise’s timeline is a complete mess, granted, but each individual entry has so much material that they could each be an entire season of television, let alone a single feature film. Without animation to act as a crutch, Nintendo’s take on Zelda is a second chance to hone in on story and go beyond simply adapting the source material. With so much material to work with, the possibilities are endless, which makes us all the more curious where Nintendo and Sony will fall.
In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule...
So, which game should it be? For any fan who grew up on Zelda, the answer seems obvious: Ocarina of Time.
how many times have we seen well-meaning filmmakers try and alter a game’s story for their vision and fail miserably?
Long considered the series’ crown jewel, its reputation molded it into the definitive depiction of the franchise’s many beloved characters and locales. Be honest: when you think Zelda, you probably think of one of the game’s many bold cutscenes, or the animations of Link playing the Ocarina or pulling out the Master Sword, or even Koji Kondo’s beloved themes for Gerudo Valley or Kokiri Forest. In addition, Ocarina perfected the franchise’s gameplay formula: dungeon crawling, item collecting, boss battles, and plenty of sidequests. This is the version of Zelda everyone knows and loves.
Beyond that, Ocarina is a perfect primer on Hyrule’s origins, making it the most accessible Zelda story to adapt for a mass audience on your first go. Aside from a few additional entries, Ocarina is where the franchise’s cyclical battle begins, presenting a power struggle between hope, courage, and wisdom that is personified in our three lead characters.
Alongside this powerful dynamic is the separation between Young Link and Adult Link as part of the game’s pseudo-time travel narrative. It’s an extra layer of complexity in an already profound coming-of-age story that, with careful direction and editing, could add a whole new layer of intrigue for a modern audience obsessed with multiverses and criss-crossing storylines.
You are the light
Ocarina feels like a clear winner, but the more you ponder the possibilities, the more they all feel legitimate.
For example, some believe the film will be based on Breath of the Wild. Currently the series’ highest-grossing entry, Nintendo’s reinvention of the franchise introduced a whole new generation to Zelda and gave the saga a new benchmark experience. With the addition of Tears of the Kingdom earlier this year, this new era of Zelda is not only fresh on the fanbase’s mind but is also more recognizable to a broader audience. Though the game’s non-linear gameplay is not as easy to adapt, its incorporation of the Four Champions and Calamity Ganon provides enough of a foundation to work with.
Ocarina is a perfect primer on Hyrule’s origins
In truth, every Zelda game, especially popular entries like Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, would be a worthy source of adaptation. However, it is difficult to see how Nintendo will attempt to fit an entire, multi-hour chapter of their saga into just one feature film. This is why our lingering feeling, as troubling as it may be for Zelda fans to hear, is that Nintendo and Sony will tell an original story.
In the same way the Mario movie cannot be pinned as an adaptation of one specific game in its series, perhaps Sony’s Zelda will amalgamate elements from across the franchise – and maybe even throw in some new ones – to tell its own version of how Link became Hyrule’s legendary warrior.
At first glance, this may seem like a disappointing approach. Games like Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild have already beloved stories in the Zelda community. Trying to tell a new story may leave the franchise’s appeal lost in translation. After all, how many times have we seen well-meaning filmmakers try and alter a game’s story for their vision and fail miserably? In Zelda’s case, you’re talking about producer Avi Arad, a studio figurehead notorious for his shoddy reputation in adapting beloved source material, including several Marvel comics characters, as well as Ghost in the Shell and Uncharted.
However, the Mario movie’s approach to adapting that series proved to have merit. Nintendo’s oversight kept the oft-ridiculed Illumination Entertainment in check, allowing its franchise to spread its wings but in ways that were charming, entertaining, and emotionally meaningful. Characters like Peach and Bowser were reinvented, while Mario and Luigi’s Brooklyn upbringing is included as earnest worldbuilding.
On top of this, the film still managed to deliver a wide assortment of fun action sequences and easter eggs as far as the eye can see, all elevated by animation that rendered the game’s environment in stunningly textured backgrounds.
This is but one of the legends of which the people speak...
Nintendo likely has a similarly new vision for the Zelda movie, one that takes what makes the property great but redefines it for a broader audience. An original story would separate the film from the games’ confused chronology, giving it more space to chart its own course, but will surely still feature references to the original games that fans will appreciate.
As we sit and twiddle our thumbs awaiting the franchise’s next steps following Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo may use the series’ foray into cinema as a way to kick off this next chapter. All we ask is that it retain what we love about the series: lush worlds with rich characters, treacherous stakes amidst world-ending disasters, and an unending hope and perseverance in our lead hero.
With that, hopefully Nintendo can use Zelda as an opportunity to put their own spin on cinema’s long history of high-quality high-fantasy blockbusters.
Which game do you think the Zelda movie should be based on? To prevent arguments, we've included all the games in the poll below, so let us know: