Live-Action Moana Art Imagines Zendaya & The Rock In The Lead Roles

New live-action Moana art imagines Zendaya and The Rock in the lead roles. Following the release of Moana 2 this year, Moana will also be getting a live-action retelling that is currently set for release on July 10, 2026. So far, the only confirmed actor to be in Moana is Dwayne The Rock Johnson, who will be returning to his role as Maui.

Now, art from @manmeetsmachine offers a look at what Johnson will look like in his role, and includes a version of Moana played by Zendaya. The art is delivered as a series of images, showing different glimpses at what the pair could look like as Moana and Maui. In the first image, Johnson’s look adheres fairly closely to that of the animated version of the Moana character. Zendaya also wears a costume fairly close to that of the 2016 version of Moana.

The other images give looks at this pairing along with other characters in an imagined version of the live-action Moana. In one image, Moana and Maui are on a boat together. Other images show a look at side characters, including the pig and the crab. Moana’s grandmother also makes an appearance in the art, giving a look at what the world of Moana could look like in live-action.

Would Zendaya Be a Good Choice for Moana?

It is important to note that the inclusion of Zendaya in these images is just a fan cast and does not represent any actual casting decisions. All that has been confirmed as to the lead role in the live-action Moana is that Moana and Moana 2 voice actress Auli’i Cravalho will not be returning to the role for the live-action film. This leaves the role of Moana fairly wide open as the film still remains over two years away from its release date.

Given her recent rise in popularity, it makes sense that Zendaya could be an audience favorite to play the heroine. The actress has some things on her side when it comes to playing Moana. For one, Zendaya has singing experience, as evidenced by her work in the musical The Greatest Showman. She, like Johnson, also has the star power that might draw people into live-action Moana.

The biggest detractor from a Zendaya casting, however, is her age. In the original film Moana, Moana is supposed to be around 16 years old. While Zendaya has played younger characters, the actress is currently 27 years old. She plays a high school student in Euphoria, but is starting to get far more adult roles, including her recent work in the film Challengers. Thus, it might be hard for audiences to see Zendaya as a 16-year-old girl if she were to be cast in live-action Moana.

Source: @manmeetsmachine / Instagram