As of late, Nintendo seems keen on continuing to expand some of its properties outside of just gaming – something they’ve strayed from with both Mario and Zelda, their franchises with the biggest legacies. On top of many merchandising expansions just this year alone, as well as a theme park on the horizon, there have been rumors swirling of an impending Legend of Zelda TV series of some kind in production. While we have confirmation that an animated Super Mario Bros. Movie is on the way in a couple of years, there’s still nothing solid on anything Zelda related, despite the glaring perception that Nintendo’s high fantasy franchise has much more potential for a film adaptation than Mario does.
Given how Nintendo has been treating the mustachioed icon’s series in recent years, it’s hard to imagine what a full-length film starring him could even look like with Miyamoto involved (who notoriously dislikes narratives in his works). Perhaps Illumination will be granted freedom to pursue more flexible ideas that break the mold, but something wonderful about the Zelda franchise is that it actively rebuilds itself every few years. With all the big upcoming video game movie adaptations, it would be wise for a series like Zelda to do something different.
Any adaptation would in no way have to connect to what has come before or what will come after. Mario is a bit of a blank slate character by design, and so is Link, but Mario kind of has to fill that role given his status as purely an icon, a symbol, and not a real character in the storytelling sense. Link, however, is not constrained in this way, even if the game developers continue to treat him as such. Something as basic as Link being ‘he’ is an element of the character’s identity which has been bent before in spinoff territory, but the potential to give Link a defining character arc in a new adaptation is higher than perhaps any other prominent Nintendo hero.
Maybe Tom Holland will end up portraying the famous video game hero, and he could quite possibly still bring something new and fresh to the character. The biggest factor, though, in how well Zelda will perform with fans and general audiences is how it is written and directed, especially if it’s in movie format. Video game adaptations, particularly live-action ones, have developed a negative reputation, much more so than books, comics, or any other kind of medium. Zelda is in a unique position as a series due to its self-reinvention, and it’s quite easy to imagine myriad possibilities where it’s depicted in animation and live-action alike in a way that a Super Mario film simply doesn’t.
We may have no idea about the Mario movie’s plot but we can safely expect it will be deliberately kid-friendly, probably with some slapstick, a simple story, barely – if any character – development (can’t go permanently changing any of the Mario cast in any way whatsoever, apparently) and a visual style that lines up with what we see in promotional materials. But when fans think about Zelda, it could go many, many ways, while still feeling ‘right’ and in-line with the spirit of the franchise. Even if there is speculation on questions like who could play Princess Zelda, what side characters would show up, what type of world the audience will see, it’s easy to arrive at a version that feels at once exciting and familiar.
While it is technically possible to do the same with Mario, the Internet has shown that it’s primarily interested in a dark, gritty reboot or parody, which is a direction Nintendo themselves will likely never take for the foreseeable future. It also wouldn’t be in-line with why people are drawn to the Super Mario brand, especially given how the 1993 live-action Mario Bros. movie went over, it seems to be a mistake Nintendo is eager to avoid repeating.
When deeper thought is really put into it, Mario is someone who might ironically make a far better villain for a movie than a hero – maybe even as some kind of twist. And yet again, it will never happen under Nintendo’s watch. With Legend of Zelda, there are so many choices for twists that could simultaneously reference something fans recognize while serving the role of a key plot point. With every version of Ganon that currently exists, even just that well of options could deepen – think back to the revelations of The Wind Waker, for example, or Zelda’s multiple personas like Sheik and Tetra. The filmmakers could introduce a brand new one for such an adaptation, or remix her previously known characteristics.
With Link, the concepts are essentially endless. Link could be a chivalrous knight, sure, but they could be an 80’s action hero in a futuristic landscape, a bounty huntress in a sci-fi setting, or even a hapless dimwit from the modern world who happens to be an ancestor of some legendary figure (this latter option feels uncomfortably possible despite how dull it would likely be). Link could see character growth in a real and meaningful way if presented as a real character, all without stepping on Nintendo’s concerns about staying ‘on-brand,’ because Link already defies this in many ways. When thinking about video games that deserve to become shows, The Legend of Zelda seems to be the most recurring Nintendo brand on people’s minds, and it’s because the series has legacy and variety to spare in its settings and characters.
Whether or not a Zelda film hops across genres or plays it safer to the source material, it’s easy at a glance to see that Super Mario is being made into a movie because it will be simple, safe, and cozy. There’s nothing wrong with this. Super Nintendo World opens in Japan in just a couple months, and it similarly looks exactly like what one might expect from Super Mario. But that in and of itself is what makes the prospect of a new Legend of Zelda exciting: no one really ever knows what to expect.
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