Videogames keep getting made into TV shows. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so good. Very rarely, it’s excellent (I’m looking at you Cyberpunk: Edgerunners). But it still feels like most TV adaptations of videogames struggle quite a lot, even if studios are throwing more money at the idea.
Some fans are surprised money hasn’t yet been thrown towards The Legend of Zelda TV show ideas. A live adaptation of the legendary videogame series seems to be something that people want, at least if you look over at Reddit. That’s where a big debate is going on over the possible quality of a TLoZ TV show.
It all started with one user posing the question, “Why is there no Legend of Zelda live adaptation? Seriously, why is there no live adaptation of LoZ? It’s a franchise that has an overly exceptional story and lore with tons of material to work with. Games like The Witcher, Resident Evil and even Cuphead got shows on Netflix and didn’t do bad. What are your thoughts though? Should LoZ get a show or movie? Who would be the actors?”
While I think The Witcher and Cuphead are clearly better fitting for a TV adaptation, I can see their point. A big, expansive series like The Legend of Zelda at least gives a scriptwriter a lot to work with, even if our beloved protagonist Link isn’t the most talkative main character. Still, not everyone agrees.
“Because it would probably suck”, one user replies, dryly. “The best part of Zelda is figuring out the puzzle, or solving the sticky situation and becoming the hero. You do it, none else. That’s a first-person experience that I very much doubt would translate to a third-person experience.” Fair enough.
Still, there are definitely two sides to this. Another user says, “LoZ manga exists and they’re pretty decent, so I disagree with people saying that Zelda only works in a game format. But I’m also not sure how well it’d translate into live-action. If anything, I’d like to see an animated anthology series in the vein of what Pokémon has been doing recently.” Now, that sure sounds like a good idea.
Either way, I’d dive into that Reddit discussion about some possible The Legend of Zelda TV show if you want more of this debate. Or, for more Zelda stuff, check out our The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pre-order guide, or our best Zelda games list.