The highly anticipated “The Legend of Zelda” movie has finally found its heavy. More specifically, Sony and Nintendo’s upcoming adaptation of the latter’s popular video game franchise has cast Uli Latukefu as the film’s main villain, Ganondorf, according to Deadline.
This is the third major character to be cast in the movie, as the roles of both the eponymous princess and the series’ Master Sword-wielding protagonist, Link, had been previously given to fresh-faced performers Bo Bragason and Benjamin Ainsworth, respectively.
The two leads were announced over a year ago, while some first-look images of the actors portraying their fantasy characters were revealed last fall. This makes word of Latukefu’s casting the first significant news to come out of the super-secretive project in quite some time.
‘Zelda’ Antagonist Actor Previously Appeared in Horror Hit
Of course, the update is especially huge for longtime fans of the fantasy action-adventure franchise that began earning its passionate following with its debut, “The Legend of Zelda,” on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986.
With that in mind, Australian actor Latukefu has some massive shoes to fill, literally. Behind Link and Zelda, Ganondorf – who assumes both human and monstrous forms in the games – is the series’ most significant character, appearing as the main menace in some of its most acclaimed and adored entries over its 40-plus years. And while the character has not served as the primary villain in all of the franchise’s dozens of main games, remakes, and spin-offs, he’s become something of a larger-than-life character, a beloved baddie whose popularity reaches far beyond his individual game appearances.
Thankfully, Latukefu brings a pretty impressive resume to the role. While his Hollywood career has been relatively short, he’s appeared in a number of high-profile projects on both the big and small screen. Following his 2017 debut in “Alien: Covenant,” Latukefu appeared in a number of other movies, including “Black Adam” and, most recently, cult horror hit “MaXXXine.”
Fans of the small screen – and “The Rock” – might be even more familiar with the actor, as he portrayed the adolescent Dwayne Johnson in NBC’s “Young Rock.” More recently, Latukefu played one of the leads in 2025 Amazon Prime crime drama “Countdown.”
Promising Pedigree and Prime Summer Release Date
Of course, “The Legend of Zelda” has generally generated more buzz for its behind-the-scenes talent. The film’s cast of promising up-and-comers has been balanced with a creative team that includes director Wes Ball, who helmed “The Maze Runner” and its two sequels, as well as 2024’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”
Meanwhile, former Marvel Studios bigwig Avi Arad will produce alongside the game series’ co-creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. The latter also served as producer on both of the enormously successful “Super Mario Bros.” movies, based, of course, on the legendary Nintendo mascot he created. The film’s script is being penned by T.S. Nowlin, who wrote the Maze Runner trilogy.
Behind its considerable pedigree, “The Legend of Zelda” has big summer blockbuster ambitions, as it’ll be one of the major tentpole projects to kick off the season on May 7. 2027.
