The Legend of Zelda franchise has taken Link and friends to many different versions of Hyrule, but a new fan-made trailer shows what that universe would look like through a Jim Henson-inspired, dark fantasy lens. The vision comes from writer and video editor Dom Nero, who created the minute-long video as a passion project over the last few months. Everything down to the quality of the footage is spot on, as the Great Deku Tree can be heard warning Link of a great danger that we only get a few glimpses of. If the visuals aren’t enough to convince that this imaginary project would have ruled in the ’80s, the end of the trailer jokes that this never-to-be movie would have been written and directed by Ridley Scott with support from Steven Spielberg and Shigeru Miyamoto. It’s a shame that we don’t live in a world where The Jim Henson Company actually made a heartwarmingly creepy live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, but we can still see what that might have been like in the video below.
Nero shared more about his work on The Legend of Zelda dark fantasy project in a piece on Polygon. He says his idea to recreate childhood memories came about shortly after being laid off in July. Specifically, he felt inspired by Ridley Scott’s Legend, a Tom Cruise-led fantasy film from 1985 that Nero’s trailer pulls footage from. Nero feels confident that Nintendo will eventually create a The Legend of Zelda movie but fears it will be a lighthearted project not unlike The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
“So, I see my project as a simple plea: If you’re going to bring the Master Sword to the big screen, please don’t forget to give it some sharp edges,” Nero explains. “That is to say: Please don’t make The Legend of Zelda just another Minions movie!”
He continues, saying that he chose the classic dark fantasy style because The Legend of Zelda series has never been afraid to “take us to uncomfortable places.” Nero feels so certain that Zelda, Link, Ganondorf, and Hyrule belong in a dark fantasy setting that he wrote an unofficial movie called A Link to the Lost Age. It’s a 40-page-long treatment that explores an “old man” version of Link, and you can read it here. Unfortunately, an official dark fantasy The Legend of Zelda movie will likely never happen, but you can be sure to stay tuned for any updates from Nintendo.
