Exclusive: Henry Cavill In Talks For Legend Of Zelda Movie Likely As Link
Henry Cavill may voice the elf-like hero Link in an animated Legend of Zelda movie.
Henry Cavill is in negotiations with Illumination to voice a major role in an upcoming Legend of Zelda movie, most likely as perennial lead character Link. According to our trusted and proven sources, the former Superman actor has set his eyes on a new project, this time as one of the first major adaptations of one of the most important game franchises of all time. A large part of Henry Cavill’s public image is his reputation as an avid gamer, so it makes sense that he would particularly gravitate to Legend of Zelda.
Although chief protagonist Link canonically does not speak in the game series, there is precedent for Henry Cavill voicing the character in a Legend of Zelda film. For one thing, Link has been represented as speaking in games via dialogue boxes and various differences between the Japanese and English-language versions of games, so it is a little more nebulous than Nintendo’s official stance on the character.
For another, Link has already been portrayed as speaking in the 1989 Legend of Zelda cartoon series, which originally aired as segments on the live-action The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, voiced by Jonathan Potts. So, if Henry Cavill is voicing the elf-like courageous warrior of indeterminate age in a Legend of Zelda animated movie, he certainly will not be the first person in history to do so.
On the other hand, Henry Cavill is not known for his Link-like roles, to put it mildly. The British actor has been starring in films as early as 2002’s Count of Monte Cristo, but achieved his breakthrough role in the 2013 Zack Snyder film Man of Steel, which kicked off the now largely defunct DC Extended Universe and established this version of the Last Son of Krypton as a tortured, distant kind of alien god. Following that, Cavill became known for his portrayal of Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix adaptation The Witcher, in which he could mostly be described as “cold” “threatening” or “kind of a jerk.”
As such, Henry Cavill voicing Link in a Legend of Zelda movie will be a bit of a different turn, but he is an actor, after all. In a way, casting Cavill as Link would line up with Illumination’s recent decision-making regarding its films. The animation studio will soon be releasing The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which infamously cast Chris Pratt to voice Mario, to virtually no one’s delight.
When even Chris Pratt’s own child does not like his version of Mario, people might need to worry a little.
On the other hand, Henry Cavill is not yet locked into the Legend of Zelda movie, so we will have to wait and see. Since losing his Superman and Witcher gigs (the latter of which is still largely unexplained, though rumor has it that the actor objected to gratuitous sex scenes), Cavill has been in contention for virtually every major film franchise out there, including James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and Kingsman. Maybe Zelda will be the one that finally pins him down.
