Former Zelda Art Director Wants Link’s Mystique Preserved in Film

Takaya Imamura, the former art director of The Legend of Zelda series, has commented on what he would like to see from the live-action Zelda movie’s interpretation of Link, the hero of Hyrule.

Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise is hitting the big screen in May 2027. Unlike the recent Mario movies, this will be a live-action film rather than an animated one. One characteristic of Link in traditional Zelda video games is that he does not speak. On social media, Takaya Imamura has stated that he hopes to see Link’s character keep his mystique while also adapting for a long-form film.

Takaya Imamura Doesn’t Want Link to Be a Mute in Legend of Zelda Movie

On April 4, Imamura took to social media to say, in a post translated from Japanese, that when Link, played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, spoke in the film, some of the Zelda magic in the hearts of long-time players could evaporate.

In response to coverage of his post claiming he didn’t want the character to talk, he clarified that it’s not bad at all. He just doesn’t want the character to become too talkative and stray from how he is portrayed in the games.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to talk at all; rather, I hope you can keep that Link-like taciturnity instead of chattering on too much. Somehow the conversation’s getting a bit grand,” he said (via translation).

喋ってほしくないというわけではなく、あまりペラペラ喋るのではなく、リンクらしい寡黙さは残してほしいという気持ちです。なんだか話が大きくなってきた😅 https://t.co/3Pvi1vBqTv

— 今村孝矢 / Takaya Imamura (@ima_1966) April 8, 2026

Takaya Imamura’s Nintendo History

Takaya Imamura left Nintendo in 2021. He worked on several long-term projects, including all Star Fox releases, games in the F-Zero franchise, and even Donkey Kong games. As it pertains to The Legend of Zelda, he worked on Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo and Majora’s Mask, released for the Nintendo 64 in the year 2000.

Speaking of Star Fox, the franchise is slated to return this year, according to new reports. Fox McCloud was recently featured in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Learn more about the potential comeback of the series here.

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