I’ve played every major Zelda game, here’s what The Legend of Zelda movie needs to get right

My love for the Legend of Zelda franchise began as a kid playing Twilight Princess on my Nintendo Wii. I remember spending hours immersed in gameplay, journeying through Hyrule as Link, fighting monsters, and exploring dungeons. Since then, I have been hooked.

I began playing through major titles like A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and The Wind Waker. Every day, I would check the Internet for any news about the next Zelda game. Whether it was Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, or Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo had me anxiously waiting for years on end to take part in Link and Zelda’s next big adventure.

When I heard that The Legend of Zelda movie was being made, my childhood dream had finally come true. As a long-time Zelda fan, I hope that director Wes Ball and his team live up to the hype and deliver the blockbuster movie that this iconic gaming franchise deserves.

The film looks very promising so far, based on the talent working on the production and official stills released online. As long as it fulfills these requirements, then The Legend of Zelda movie will be worth the decades of waiting.

Link must be a well-rounded hero

In terms of iconic pop culture heroes, Link is up there with Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, and Superman. While Benjamin Evan Ainsworth has proven himself capable enough to lead The Legend of Zelda‘s cast, adapting Link’s character for the big screen is a challenge.

For much of the Zelda franchise, Link is depicted as a silent protagonist who serves as a stand-in for the player. However, that doesn’t mean Link isn’t a unique character.

Each version of Link has a distinct story, but they are all known for their incredible courage, loyalty, and dedication to protecting the innocent. However, he has also shown many times that he can be silly, reckless, rageful, guilty, and tempted by greed.

Link doesn’t necessarily have to speak in the film to appeal to audiences. However, he just can’t be a one-dimensional fantasy hero. We have to see how multifaceted a person Link is as he grows and reacts to everything, carrying such a heavy burden as the Hero of Hyrule.

Zelda should share the adventure with Link

Many past games have depicted Zelda as the damsel-in-distress that Link must rescue from the villain. This outdated trope wouldn’t resonate with modern audiences. The franchise has already begun moving away from it in the games, giving Zelda more active roles in protecting the people of Hyrule and helping Link on his journey.

Since the whole franchise is named after her, the film should be treated as Zelda’s story just as much as it is Link’s. We saw Princess Peach take a more active role in Mario’s adventure in The Super Mario Bros. Movie after decades of having to be rescued by him, and the story was all the better for it. Ball should try this approach with Zelda.

Though Link and Zelda have often been driven apart in the games, installments like Spirit Tracks and Breath of the Wild have stood out for how they showed the duo traveling as a team, with their relationship growing into something truly magical along the way. The film would add great emotion and intrigue by exploring the dynamic between these two souls, forever intertwined by fate.

Official images and leaked videos from the production suggest that Link and Zelda will embark on their cinematic adventure together. Though Ball seems to have already taken a step in the right direction, the film needs to present their relationship with enough depth and chemistry to do justice to their characters.

The film should emphasize the citizens of Hyrule

Though the Zelda games have revolved around Link and the titular princess, the franchise has also shone when it put the spotlight on the regular people that the duo tries to save. Majora’s Mask is notable for portraying the struggles and tragedies experienced by several people affected by the villain’s horrific actions, giving Link plenty of sidequests to undertake.

Twilight Princess also excelled at portraying the inhabitants of Hyrule. The game featured many compelling side characters, particularly the people from Link’s village, who grow alongside the hero as the game progresses. These characters added plenty of depth to Hyrule, making it feel more vibrant and realistic.

To truly enhance Hyrule’s narrative and make Link’s journey more rewarding, the movie should illustrate how the people of Hyrule are affected by Ganondorf’s reign of terror and how they grow in the face of adversity. This would show exactly what Link and Zelda are fighting for in the film.

Ganondorf must be a well-rounded villain

Ganondorf has the potential to be an excellent villain on the big screen. While he was introduced as an evil pig demon Ganon with an insatiable lust for power, subsequent games have expanded on his character and explored his human side as the Gerudo King of Thieves. With his cunning tactics and incredible magic, Ganondorf has proven himself to be Hyrule’s greatest threat.

Tears of the Kingdom depicted Ganondorf at his most fearsome and most powerful. However, his motivations for taking over Hyrule and filling it with darkness were unclear, leaving his character seeming one-dimensional. The film shouldn’t have Ganondorf try to conquer Hyrule just to be evil.

Ball and his writing team should draw inspiration from The Wind Waker, as it features the best iteration of Ganondorf. In this game, we see Ganondorf with more sympathetic motivations for his evil actions.

We learn in this game that Ganondorf envied the people of Hyrule for living in a joyous, prosperous land, while he and his Gerudo people lived in a harsh, deadly desert. While Ganondorf is the devil of the Zelda franchise, he became a more tragic, compelling figure.

Similar to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Ganondorf initially tried to help his people, albeit in a very misguided manner. Although the latter was blinded by his own greed and hate, The Wind Waker gave Ganondorf an understandable reason for wanting to conquer Hyrule. The film’s version of Ganondorf should justify invading Hyrule by claiming it would help his people rule a much more hospitable kingdom, making him a more realistic villain.

The story should start with a fractured Hyrule

Throughout the Zelda franchise, Ganondorf has proven his strength by turning the tribes of Hyrule against one another. He has had people like the Gerudo and the Twili against the Hyruleans. He has also isolated the tribes from one another by diverting their attention to a specific crisis plaguing their territories.

It is only thanks to Link and Zelda’s intervention that the people of Hyrule come together to fight against Ganondorf. This typically manifests as a warrior or sage joining forces with the heroes in the final battle. This has helped Hyrule itself become a character with its own arc. The filmmakers should apply a similar approach to developing their story.

If the movie is an Ocarina of Time adaptation, it should depict the kingdom’s various tribes harboring animosity toward each other after the Hyrulean Civil War. Ganondorf could exploit these negative feelings and drive them further apart during his invasion of Hyrule.

Though Ocarina of Time hardly explores this civil war, expanding on it and integrating it into the story could create a powerful narrative about the importance of unity. Tribes like the Gorons, Zoras, Sheikah, and Gerudo could also have their heroic moments as they put aside their differences and join forces to stop Ganondorf.

The music needs to be original and big

One of the Zelda franchise’s greatest contributions to pop culture is its iconic music, from the main theme song to Zelda’s Lullaby. Music has even been used as a plot device in several games, with Link and Zelda playing enchanted songs to unlock doors, teleport, travel through time, and heal cursed characters.

The Zelda games have no shortage of memorable music that would elevate the film with such beauty. This was the same for the Mario franchise, though The Super Mario Bros. Movie still featured numerous classic rock songs that sounded out of place in its story. The Zelda film shouldn’t feature a random assortment of needle drops to appeal to audiences, especially since modern rock songs would clash with the medieval fantasy world.

Fortunately, The Legend of Zelda already shows promise in the music department. Acclaimed composer John Paesano has been hired to compose the movie’s original score. Having immensely enjoyed his score for Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, I’m confident that Zelda’s music is in good hands.

The film should have a dark ending

Since The Legend of Zelda may be the start of an entire trilogy, we may not see a satisfying conclusion to the story in the first movie. This wouldn’t be surprising, as many Zelda games are so big that a single film wouldn’t be enough to do their stories justice. However, the stories of A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time have been divided into two parts: before and after Link is thrust into a dark version of Hyrule that is corrupted by Ganon and overrun with monsters.

Having the heroes lose may be a risky move for the franchise’s first movie. However, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring succeeded despite its somewhat downer conclusion, as it was also the start of a much larger narrative.

The Legend of Zelda should retain the source material’s sense of hope and whimsy. At the same time, ending the first film with Ganondorf’s victory would help the movie stand out even more from other fantasy blockbusters.

Not only would this cement Ganondorf as a formidable villain, but it would also add more emotional weight to Link’s journey. Since Link is supposed to protect Hyrule from evil, having him begin a journey to redemption in Ganon’s dark world at the end of the film would make a sequel all the more exciting.