Video games have remained a popular source for film adaptations, despite the fact that in general a lot of them just haven’t become the massive success stories that studios or fans have been hoping for. Now, the most popular game franchise of them all is taking its second bite at that apple with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and one of the film’s stars, Anya Taylor-Joy, is already hoping that we could see this new film series crossover with Nintendo’s other top title, The Legend of Zelda.
While she admits to not having played any of the Legend of Zelda games, Taylor-Joy is aware of the franchise, and how popular it is with fans. She tells Yahoo UK that if we were to see Super Mario Bros. become the beginning of a “Nintendo Cinematic Universe” she’d like to see a crossover between the two franchises.
A Legend of Zelda movie is, without question, an incredibly exciting prospect. A Zelda movie or prestige series has been rumored several times. The series of adventure games, that see the Hero of Time, Link, fight the monster Gannon to save Princess Zelda, could become an absolutely amazing action-adventure fantasy movie, but that’s exactly why a crossover between the two Nintendo games on the big screen would seem to be so difficult.
Why A Mario And Zelda Crossover Would Be Hard To Make Work
While Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda are both game series from Nintendo, that’s where the similarities between the two pretty much end. While both franchises have evolved since the 1980s, and Zelda especially has gone through a lot of visual makeovers over the years, Zelda tends to be played straight, with the focus of the story on a serious adventure where worlds need to be saved from destruction. While there are certainly moments of humor, that’s not what the games are about.
By comparison, Super Mario Bros. has always been a bit more “cartoony.” The characters are exaggerated, and the game doesn’t take itself too seriously. Each of these ideas can work for a movie in isolation, but putting Mario and Zelda next to each could cause some tonal dissonance. Unless you decided to try and make a Legend of Zelda movie funny, but they did that with the old 1980s cartoon, and nobody wants to see that happen again.
If The Super Mario Bros. Movie is successful, then it would seem all but certain that we'll see Universal want to continue this relationship with Nintendo. They put Mario in the theme parks and on the big screen and Zelda would be the next most obvious choice to do both of those things. Whether it's in a stand-alone film or something connected would be a significant choice that would need to be made.
