Nintendo confirms who's playing Link and Zelda in The Legend of Zelda's live-action movie – and I think it drops a big clue about which game will be adapted

• The cast for the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie has been unveiled
• Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed who will play Zelda and Link
• Some fans are disappointed Hunter Schafer didn’t land the role of Zelda

Production on the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is very much underway as two members of the lead cast have officially been confirmed.

The news was posted on social media by Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who revealed a picture of the actors that will play the eponymous princess of 'Hyrule' (the fictional kingdom in the video game series), Zelda, and legendary swordsman Link in costume.

Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, who made his debut in Mike Flanagan's horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, has been cast as Link, while Bo Bragason from the period drama Renegade Nell on Disney+ will play Zelda.

Nintendo and Sony casting two young actors to play the lead characters of the Zelda franchise is one of our first indications of which direction the movie could take. Indeed, such a young cast could mean that we see an earlier game in the franchise, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, as the central plot of the film.

Of course, that's just speculation. It could be that there's still a chance that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the subject matter for the first live-action movie adaptation, but that would mean that we're expecting a second Link to be cast for when the character grows up in the game.

This first casting announcement also arguably suggests that we could be in store for a series of movies. Having such a young cast gives the actors room to grow with their characters over multiple films, and means there won't be any issues like Stranger Things now has with its cast of adults playing teenagers in season 5.

Nothing else surrounding the production of The Legend of Zelda adaptation has been confirmed yet, but we do know the release date of the live-action movie: March 26, 2027. We can therefore expect more casting announcements in the months to come.

What are fans saying about the cast of the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie?

In the lead-up to today's announcement, there were quite a few rumors about who would play Zelda and Link in the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie. One of the frontrunners for Zelda's role was Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), but it seems that Wes Ball, who's directing the film, ruled her out by going for a younger cast.

Indeed, going off an interview that Nintendo's veteran game designer Takashi Tezuka did with MTV over nine years ago, there was even a chance that Link could have been played by a woman. "This is just personally, [but] it would be very fun and awesome if Link was played by a female actress," Tezuka said, "a boyish female actress."

The direction that Ball has decided to take the movie in instead has been met with a lot of praise on social media, with many expecting another quality film in the vein of Nintendo's last hit, the Super Mario Bros. Movie. While some have expressed disappointment that Schafer didn't land the role of Zelda, others say that this suggests the movie will be part of a trilogy.

Comment from r/gaming

Some users also appear to be pleased that both actors are English, as it offers some continuity to the video game – many of the voice actors are English in the series (except Link, of course). However, this does vary from game to game.

Overall, the reception appears to be positive, especially as it gives fans of the video game who are excited for the live-action movie their first real indication of what to expect. Could such a young cast mean we get a Zelda movie trilogy? Does it narrow down our speculation about which video game will form the basis of the story? There's a lot to chew on here.

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