twink's awakening

It’s a battle of the twinks as gaymers fan-cast Link in upcoming ‘Legend Of Zelda’ movie

By · 8 comments · Updated on November 9, 2023
Image Credits: Justice Smith in ‘Generation,’ Max (left) | ‘The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess,’ Nintendo (center) | Instagram, @jackchampion (right)

Huzzah! After years of speculation, Nintendo has announced its plans to make a live-action film adaptation of its popular action-adventure franchise, The Legend Of Zelda.

First introduced in 1986, the fantasy series has become a cornerstone of the Nintendo brand, with 19 official games across multiple platforms (including this year’s well-received Tears Of The Kingdom), manga comics, a short-lived animated series, and character appearances in other popular series like Super Smash Bros.

Though each Legend Of Zelda game is its own epic quest, their stories center on a (notably twinky) elven hero named Link who frequently must fight to save the Kingdom Of Hyrule—and its gorgeous Princess Zelda—from all kinds of dark forces, including the evil sorcerer Ganon (a.k.a Ganondorf).

The blend of high-fantasy, open-world adventure, and iconic characters has made the series especially popular among LGBTQ+ fans, so it’s safe to say the film announcement was huge news for gaymers everywhere.

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The thirst is real.

No plot details have been revealed yet—though lord knows there are plenty of sagas to draw from, like the apocalyptic N64 throwback Majora’s Mask or the sea-faring The Wind Waker.

What we do know is that Nintendo has tapped filmmaker Wes Ball to helm the project. Best known as the director behind the Maze Runner series (and the upcoming Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes), it seems Ball has been manifesting this for quite some time, which is pretty sweet!

But the real tea is who could possibly play The Legend Of Zelda‘s beloved heroes and villains, bringing them to life on the big screen. Folks got to fan-casting the minute the movie was announced, and already we’re seeing lots of exciting suggestions for LGBTQ+ talent in particular.

(Though we don’t want to get our hopes up just yet—this is, after all, the company that decided “Hollywood’s least favorite Chris” Chris Pratt should voice Italian plumber Mario.)

Let’s get the easy one out of the way: In our view, the first and only choice to play the *ss-kicking Princess Zelda is none other than Euphoria star Hunter Schafer. The trans actress is about to make her blockbuster debut in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes, but we already know she’d eat this role up.

Like, she’s giving whimsical-yet-regal beauty every time she steps onto a red carpet—you can’t tell us she’s not perfect for the role. There seems to be a consensus among fans—and Schafer’s ready for it, too.

Link, on the other hand, isn’t so obvious.

Famously, the elven hero is one of our pre-eminent twinks in pop culture, often depicted with a slender-yet-fit frame, perfectly coifed hair, a fierce jawline, and a foppish sense of fashion.

Of course, there are plenty of young Hollywood stars well-suited for the role, but the challenge lies in finding someone who can balance the character’s waif-ishness with his battle-ready chutzpah—it’s not an easy task!

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The folks at Variety came on hot with a round-up of possibilities that range from “Ooh, good idea!” to “Surely you can’t be serious…” Among their suggestions are familiar names like Red, White & Royal Blue‘s Nicholas Galitzine, Heartstopper‘s William Gao, Love Actually‘s Thomas Brodie-Sangster (who’d be reuniting with his Maze Runner director Wes Ball), and—our personal favorite—queer star Justice Smith.

They also had the audacity to suggest Euphoria hottie Jacob Elordi, which… come on, that man is 6’5″—can you really imagine him running around in a little green tunic? (Wait a minute, now that we think about it, we would like to see that!)

And if those guys don’t work out, Gay Twitter™ has plenty of other ideas:

So, what do you think? Who should play Link in an upcoming big-budget Legend Of Zelda movie?

Honestly, we’re more concerned about who’s going to play big-bad villain, Ganondorf, especially now that the latest Zelda game, Tears Of The Kingdom, showed us what an absolute daddy he can be.

Tom Hardy certainly fits the bill, or maybe Korean hunk Ma Dong-seok, who made quite the impression in The Eternals. Actually, Winston Duke would probably kill it—his Black Panther character is ultimately more friend than foe, but he’d make for one thicc demon king.

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The first image of Ganondorf in the new ‘Legend of Zelda’ game looks like the cover of a Hyrule Hotties calendar.

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