On November 7, 2023, Nintendo announced that they would be making a live action movie based on their groundbreaking video game series, “The Legend Of Zelda”. The film will be co-developed by Nintendo and Arad Productions produced by Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad. The film will also be directed by Wes Ball, director of the Maze Runner Trilogy. While Miyamoto and Arad have been in discussions for this project for years, the movie seems to have just started production by the looks of it. No details have been given onto the plot, design, or cast of the movie. While the cast has probably not even been chosen yet, there is one man that is a clear choice for a role in the movie: Ryan Reynolds.

 Ryan Reynolds is a world-famous actor known for his roles in “Free Guy”, the “Deadpool” film series, as well as Pikachu in “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”, another live action movie based on a Nintendo property. Mr. Reynolds has also gone into other business ventures such as “Mint Mobile” and “Aviation American Gin”. Well beloved by many, Reynolds is a fantastic cast pick for the Zelda movie. What role would the actor play, you may ask? Well, across the Zelda franchise’s multitude of characters, one stands out as the perfect role for Ryan Reynolds… Navi the fairy. Navi is a fairy from “The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time”, released in 1998 on the N64 console. Navi was a companion character that was sent to aid Link near the beginning of the game’s story. Navi would tell the player how to play the game, give tips and story details, as well as being a part of the game’s targeting system. Navi is famous, perhaps infamous, for their line “Hey! Listen!”. 

 While it may sound ridiculous, Ryan Reynolds would make a perfect Navi. He has shown in “Detective Pikachu” that he can play a companion character pretty well, which would help the Zelda movie by sprinkling humor here and there and helping make the main character feel less alone. The only thing that would need to be done is to prevent Navi from being too talkative to distract from the tone, but still giving Link a companion character to help the scenes feel a bit more exciting and lively would help the movie a lot, and who better than Ryan Reynolds. Ryan Reynolds as Navi is simply too great of a cast pick to deny. It’s just perfect.

 That is why I started a petition to have Ryan Reynolds play Navi. Online petitions are a great way to get one’s voice heard, and I truly believe that if we get enough people to band together to support this thing, then it will truly become a reality. Now, some of you may doubt whether this campaign could actually work, but I have multiple reasons to believe it will. First off, I think it’s likely that Navi will appear in the movie anyway, as “The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” is one of the most popular games of all time, being the highest rated game of all time on Metacritic with a score of 99. Additionally, if they want to give Link a companion character, Navi is the perfect choice, especially as Navi is more memorable and less plot-specific as some of Link’s past companions such as the Minish Cap and the King Of Red Lions. So, if Navi is going to be in the movie anyway, Nintendo casting Ryan Reynolds in the role would not really that much of a stretch. Additionally, Nintendo has been shown to care a great deal about their fans, and while of course their track record is not perfect and there have been times where they have massively disappointed fans, they still have shown to care about their fanbase. Past fan petitions have even gotten on Nintendo’s radar and even achieved success. 

An example is “Operation Rainfall”, a fan campaign to get Nintendo to release the games Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora’s Tower, and The Last Story all of which were exclusive to Japan at the start of the campaign. Nintendo acknowledged it very early on and while they said they had no plans to release the games outside of Japan, all three eventually did get international releases. A similar campaign, Operation Moonfall which was trying to get Nintendo to make a 3DS remake to “The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask”, after Nintendo released “The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D” a remake of “Ocarina of Time” released on the 3DS. Zelda Producer Eiji Aonuma mentioned the petition in a GamesRadar interview in 2011, and in 2015 “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D” was released on the 3DS system.

 So, clearly Nintendo pays attention to what their fans want, at least enough to acknowledge their demands. If this petition becomes a sensation as I hope it does, then it can very easily be a reality. It would be in Nintendo’s and Sony’s interest to cast him in the role if enough fans want him. It would help the publicity of the film tremendously and would pull in a lot of outside fans. It might also help calm some hardcore Zelda fans’ worries about the movie. While I don’t think Ryan Reynolds as Navi is something a lot of hardcore Zelda fans would immediately think of as a sign that the movie is going to be good, it does help the movie’s image if you think about it a bit more. A lot of Zelda fans are worried that the movie might not respect or adapt the source material that well like past movies adapted from video games. But if Nintendo casts an actor because of a fan petition then it would give fans the message that Nintendo does care about them and that they want to make a movie they will enjoy. 

 I know Ryan Reynolds playing Navi sounds like a pipe dream, but ever since the idea has popped into my head, I just loved it so much. That is why I have started this petition. That is why I have told all my friends and family about it. That’s why I put flyers promoting my petition all over my college campus, because I just want this to be a thing so badly. And that’s where you come in. While I can put forth all my efforts in promoting this petition and try my hardest to make this a reality, I can not do it without people like you supporting it. While I can make this description as well-polished as I can to the best of my ability, it won’t mean anything if no one reads it. This petition is not a collection of votes on an online database, it is a band of people who want to make their voice heard. I can only do this if people like you sign my petition, support its growth, and spread the word. I’m not doing this for fame or for any other reason except that I simply want Ryan Reynolds to play Navi. That’s why I need you to help me promote this, so my silly little dream can come true. Because at the end of the day, I can work as hard as I can but it won’t matter if I don’t have people who believe in the cause. So, please sign, share, and spread the word. We can do this!

#RyanReynoldsBeTheNavi