Mere hours after the news of a live-action Zelda series spread like wild fire, some fans have accepted this news with hopefulness where others are flat out refusing the idea.
“Link doesn’t talk,” commented one Facebook fan.
But little is known about this proposed series as of right now. Who has said that Link is even the hero of the series?
The series is called The Legend of Zelda, and occasionally, even the titular Princess of Hyrule is absent from the games. To top it off, “The Legend” part of The Legend of Zelda is where a series should take focus. Building up a lush, lively Hyrule.
Why does this matter?
Because what Netflix is holding in their hands is essentially the equivalent of the ABC hit Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I’m sure I’ve lost some of you. Let me bridge that gap.
In case you’ve been living a rock during the past few years, the comic book film genre has had a resurgence, arguably from the creative direction of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy. Though a DC Comics property, Batman was not the only superhero to get a new lease on life. Marvel Studios, now owned by Disney, has rights to most of their crucial characters to form The Avengers, a little film that broke box office records. From that hit film sprawled the TV tie-in of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., basically a way to bridge the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the Marvel Television Universe and back and forth.
So, back to Zelda – specifically, Twilight Princess.
I’m not saying that this is the era to set a Zelda series in, but to me, it’s the one that would appeal to the most fans: there’s darkness, a few villains, and then there is The Resistance, you know, that group that plotted to restore peace to Hyrule in Telma’s Bar? You know, those guys that bailed Link out of a possibly demise before the final showdown?
Yeah. Those characters have stories to tell, and Link does not have to be the central character of them. If going this route of storytelling, he is as much a side quest character as they are to the game of Twilight Princess. And that is why Twilight Princess is an ideal era to tell a story in. Sure, you could tell a similar story in different eras, but there’s just so much going on in Twilight Princess. And let’s not forget about Hyrule Warriors – a game that actually brought a really cool idea to the Zelda franchise and would work wonderfully as a story telling device!
This also opens the door for original storytelling that maybe we haven’t gotten to see yet. Maybe some ideas from Skyward Sword had to be scrapped because of graphical limits or something along those lines.
Of course, you’re going to want to have your Triforce wielding characters on screen. But again, complaining about a Link not talking isn’t an issue. Sure, the fans would hate him to have a soliloquy to the vein of a Shakespearean character, or even muttering “Excuse me, Princess,” (though if done properly one time would be a funny nod to the fans), but there is nothing wrong with a character that has very little to say that makes him borderline mute. That would kind of actually make him a little more of a badass.
Also, actors are trained to visibly speak with facial emotion over dialogue. Check out the episode “Hush” from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 30 minutes of a show that depended solely on facial expressions, gestures, and music. It is very possible to have an absolute silent character, but I do not believe a completely mute Link is required, and I will support the idea of a very quiet and reserved Link – an Indiana Jones type.
Before we all start jumping off the deep end, let’s embrace what a true Legend of Zelda series could really mean:
-It does not have to be based on a game, though references to timelines or the hero of a specific era would be a nice nod to fans.
-Dungeon exploration is not necessarily an episode. It’s a plot progression device, kind of like when Aragorn goes off with the Sword of the King to get all the undead to join in the final battle of The Return of the King. It’s just a device to progress a story – as in, you kind of have to have the hookshot to get into the forest temple in Ocarina of Time, right?
-There are so many more characters that can build a rich, realistic Hyrule that will require less from any of the three main characters. Link is always the muscle. Any film, TV show, or comic book adaptation of The Legend of Zelda should pretty much revolve around Ganondorf’s quest for power and the opposition, aka Zelda and Link.
-Tie-ins. Ever since Nintendo had the Wii U, the thought of Nintendo based programming has been rumored discussion. Fast forward to E3 the past few years and we keep hearing talk of a Halo movie and TV series, the WarCraft movie, etc. What The Legend of Zelda has that these other games don’t is a rich world of lore, though an argument could be made for both Halo and most definitely WarCraft. That being said, Nintendo has been thinking of bringing their characters out of just the video game world, but have been hesitant due to past failures. So far, the only successful tie-in multimedia based Nintendo title is all under the umbrella of Pokémon.
Of course, Netflix could go the route of saying season 1 is Twilight Princess, season 2 is The Wind Waker, and so forth. At that point, the show design would mirror the concept driving ABC’s Once Upon A Time, which isn’t a terrible way to tell a story, but can become confusing, too.
But with it only being just a few hours of day 1 news with lots of rumors, casting decisions, writers to hire, and set design to consider, I would humbly think that if Nintendo has seriously thought about this, they know what is at stake. Nintendo knows how much love The Legend of Zelda gets (though not enough to give us a Ganondorf Amiibo within the first 4 waves). I firmly believe that Nintendo would pull the plug before one day of production starts if they were not completely involved and satisfied.
But that’s just my insight. What do I know?
What are your thoughts about this Zelda series? Do you think looking at other characters might be a better way to tell a story? Sound off in the comments below!
