Daily Debate: Would You Like the Zelda Movie to Have a Darker Take on the Series?
Posted on November 24 2023 by Josh Wittmershaus
The Legend of Zelda has a pretty good track record of finding ways to toe the line on ESRB ratings. This makes the games accessible and acceptable to younger audiences while entertaining themes of horror, tension, and other shades of more mature themes. Twilight Princess is currently the only Zelda game with a “T for Teen” rating, and some members of the community clamor for a Zelda game that has more intensified violence, peril, and spookiness. In fact, my first article for Zelda Dungeon was about this.
I want to move this debate to the silver screen, as I’ve contemplated how the upcoming Zelda movie might contain images and sequences that would warrant it a PG-13 rating (I could NOT imagine them making an R-rated Zelda movie, let’s be realistic here).
After reflecting on this, I think they should keep the movie on the lighter side of things. I certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if it was darker, but I’d be pretty surprised if Nintendo went that route. Games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have given the franchise a new generation of fans, and the chances of a young adolescent going to see this movie would give them an even larger foundation for new fandom.
What do you think? Do you think the Zelda movie should incorporate more dark and mature themes? Would you want that? I’m excited to hear about what you all think, so comment below!
Josh Wittmershaus is a writer at Zelda Dungeon. Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, he now resides in Northern California. Aside from Zelda, Josh enjoys playing music, seeing live music, music history, and all other things music. He also enjoys skating, hockey, and the occasional political or philosophical thought exercise.
