With The Legend of Zelda making the jump to the big screen, some fans of the beloved video game franchise are worried that a live-action adaptation may be hard to pull off. Details regarding the movie are still being kept under wraps, so we don't know if it will adapt a specific game or if it will be an original story based on the franchise.
As the first live-action Zelda movie ever, there are still a ton of questions, including how exactly the studio will handle spoken dialogue. In the game's Link is a silent protagonist. This is an intentional decision by Shigeru Miyamoto, as it allows fans to project themselves onto Link.
In most games, like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, players are given dialogue choices. So while he does "talk," player snever actually hear or fully see what he says. Instead, we rely on gestures and expressions along with NPC responses.
While not confirmed, it's expected that Link will talk spoken dialogue in the film. And while this feels inevitable as the series makes the jump to the big screen, former Nintendo developer Takaya Imamura worries it could ruin some of the magic of the franchise.
Taking to Twitter/X, Takaya Imamura, who served as art director onThe Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask expressed his concern in having Link talk in the movie.
"The moment Link speaks, I can't help but worry a little that the 'Zelda magic' everyone has been nurturing in their hearts might just vanish into thin air," Imamura wrote (translated by X).
When a fan pointed out that Link has always canonically been able to speak, Imamura agreed that while it's likely the character will talk in the movie, he believes Link still remain quiet and stoic.
"In the movie, they'll obviously talk," he continued, "but it seems like it'll be a taciturn character, huh."
For what it's worth, this live-action movie wouldn't technically be the first time fans hear Link talk out loud. We actually first heard him speak in the 1989 cartoon The Legend of Zelda, which was part of the larger program The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Zelda episodes were shown on Friday alongside Mario segments, and the show featured Link speaking constantly. The character was voiced by Jonathan Potts, who delivered a version of Link described as cocky, sarcastic, and flirtatious.
Nintendo obviously didn't adop that version of Link with future games keeping him mostly silently. And seeing as how old that cartoon is, many younger gamers probably aren't even aware it existed. So this movie will probably be the first time for many that they hear Link talk.
The live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions with Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) directing. Shigeru Miyamoto is producing alongside Avi Arad. The film will star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason as Link and Princess Zelda, respectively.