With five (soon to be six!) seasons and two movies under its belt, it’s hard to think of what new things My Hero Academia’s anime can do as it continues adapting Kohei Horikoshi’s superheroic shonen manga. The upcoming third movie, World Heroes’ Mission, answers that question easily: plant the Japanese heroes we’ve spent seven years with in America and watch them do their incredibly chaotic thing there.
Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but there’s a certain appeal in watching Deku use his new Blackwhip power to swing around the Golden Gate Bridge like one of those spider guys we know.
Oh, Deku’s got more than one power now, haven’t you heard? The dub trailer for the new movie sees Deku (Justin Briner), Bakugo (Clifford Chapin), and Todoroki (David Matranga) join up with a global alliance of heroes during their internship with Todoroki’s father Endeavour (Patrick Seitz) that they started in the second half of this most recent season. Saving the world from a pro-human group called Humarise that wants to eliminate all Quirks (superpowers) is their main goal, but clearing Deku’s name after he’s been framed is also on the agenda.
My Hero has never delved too much into what it’s like to be Quirkless other than in its opening episodes when Deku was first getting a handle on his powers after spending most of his life without them. Like Amon from Legend of Korra or X-Men’s Stryker, the leader of Humarise has a clear and visible disdain for Quirks, and the only way for him to even the playing field is by augmenting himself with technology. Will the movie commit to what he says, or muddle it up like what Korra did with Amon? Time will tell.
Either way, it’s all hands on dek(u), and World Heroes is embracing everything that comes with being a flashy superhero movie, from the teen trio’s flashy new stealth suits to the added spectacle of their powers that the anime can only do during certain episodes, but a movie can do more frequently over time. The animation for the series has been getting better each season, and last year’s movie Heroes Rising took Deku and friends to new heights with an absolutely bonkers third act. There’s a high pedigree here, and it feels like World Heroes’ Mission will be tapping into that energy yet again.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission comes to theatres in dub and sub on Oct. 29. Tickets are on sale now, and those who attend opening weekend will get a specialty manga and a 76-page booklet that gives a look into the film’s development, including sketches by Horikoshi himself.