The Legend Of Zelda Movie Casts A Familiar TV Star As The Villainous Ganondorf

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The "Legend of Zelda" movie is starting to take shape. The live-action movie based on the hugely popular video game series of the same name already released a first look at the games-accurate Link and Zelda, who will be played by relative newcomers Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason, respectively.

But what is a hero without a villain? As we wait for more news of the production of Wes Ball's take on the Nintendo video game franchise, New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan took to Twitter to share some casting news for the film.

"I've been hearing the iconic series villain Ganondorf is played by Australian actor Uli Latukefu, best known for the show 'Young Rock,'" Buchanan wrote.

Ganondorf is the name for the human form of Ganon, the main antagonist of the "The Legend of Zelda" franchise who made his debut in the original video game. In that game, Ganon appeared as a big pig-like demon, before the human-form known as Ganondorf made his debut in "Ocarina of Time."

As for Uli Latukefu, he's an Australian actor of Tongan descent, best known for playing a young version of Dwayne Johnson in the NBC comedy "Young Rock." He also played Cole in "Alien: Covenant," and the superhero The Champion, son of Teth-Adam, in the unfortunate disaster that was "Black Adam." Latukefu also played Shephard Turei in "MaXXXine" and Byamba in "Marco Polo."

This is still not an official announcement, and we have not seen a single image of what Latukefu could look like in the role of Ganondorf. This version of the character has never appeared in an adaptation; when "The Legend of Zelda" got a cartoon in the '80s, they only included his Ganon demon form. But there are reasons to be excited about this movie, mostly because of Wes Ball.

This casting decision continues the erasure of Middle Eastern people in Hollywood

Uli Latukefu definitely looks like an intimidating guy who could pose a threat to any warrior, and fits the Ganondorf aesthetic. That being said, it's quite unfortunate to see yet another example of Hollywood erasing Middle Eastern cultures in big movies. Ganondorf is described in every game as a male Gerudo, a fictional race first established in "Ocarina of Time" coded to resemble Middle Eastern cultures; its race features characters with darker complexions, attire that screams "Aladdin," and Moroccan-like architecture.

Granted, it's not like fans are clamoring for Ganondorf to be the pinnacle of Middle Eastern representation. The depiction of the Gerudo has been criticized for years, and even the widely-acclaimed "Breath of the Wild" had critics pointing out the missed opportunity for accurate or at least less problematic representation (via Vice).

At best, not casting a Middle Eastern actor to play Ganondorf seems like a missed opportunity to correct some of the mistakes of the video games, and at worst, it's washing out the clear cultural specificity of the Gerudo.

It's funny, then, that Latukefu is set to play Ganondorf considering he also played a young Dwayne Johnson — the man responsible for "Black Adam." In addition to being a horrible movie that helped destroy the DC Universe and dinged The Rock's career, it was also a misguided film that erased Middle Easterners. The character of Black Adam is very specifically coded as Egyptian, which Dwayne Johnson is very much not. Now, it's Ganondorf's turn to go through something similar.