My Hero Academia has had a stellar showing so far in 2021. With the manga slowly drawing to an epic conclusion and Season 5 well under way this spring season, what better way to celebrate the franchise further than with another movie?
Following the success of Heroes Rising, My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is the third film installment for the franchise and marks a major shift in the series' story -- putting Deku in the precarious position of being painted as a villain. In the run-up to its release, here's everything you need to know about it.
In My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, a mysterious terrorist group called the Humanize are introduced. They strongly believe in the "Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory." The theory states that as future generations continue to be mixed with the Quirk genes, the power it holds will lead to humanity’s demise. Furthermore, Humanize believes that Quirks are a disease, and so, they plan to “cleanse the world” by exterminating anyone who has one.
Humanize planted "Ideo Trigger Bombs" in various countries, and these explosives are said to make a Quirk-user lose control of their Quirk, leading to mass destruction. To save and protect everyone, Pro-Heroes from around the world, and the U.A. Academy heroes-in-training, unite to thwart the efforts of the mysterious group.
A teaser trailer was released on March 27, providing some key clips hinting at the movie’s storyline. In this teaser, we see an uprising of a mysterious cult, Izuku Midoriya becoming a wanted fugitive for committing mass murder, and a united front of new and familiar heroes battling against an unknown force. The trailer also showcases three fan-favorite heroes who are currently training at Endeavor’s agency, Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki, as a team.
Many fans found the revelation of Midoriya as a wanted criminal comical and wondered what the reasoning was behind Midoriya’s “murder spree.” Given his shonen hero status, kind-hearted nature and desire to save people, we can safely speculate that Midoriya has been falsely accused and may need to clear his name.
The film looks to build upon the My Hero Academia universe by including an international team of heroes and showcasing new gear and wardrobe for the central trio. Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki’s stealth suits have an embroidered emblem with “W.H.A” on their shoulders, which most likely stands for “World Hero Association.” With the anticipated introduction of heroes and villains from around the world, this looks to be MHA's most expansive film yet, branching out beyond Japan.
On June 15, 2021, the official trailer for My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission was released. The trailer features new scenes from the movie, specifically showcasing the two new characters, Flect Turn and Rody Soul as well as montages of our favorite characters joining together to stop the Humanize. We also got to hear a snippet of the film's title track, "Empathy" by the J-rock band, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, who have performed songs for other popular anime series such as Naruto and Bleach.
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission is set to be released in Japan on August 6. There is has yet to be an announcement as to when the movie will be released worldwide, but we can assume that it will head to U.S. theaters due to the box office success of the previous two films, MHA: Two Heroes and MHA: Heroes Rising.
The official website for the movie has released the costume designs for Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki. Each of the black stealth suits has a unique hood to compliment each character -- Midoriya’s hood has the “rabbit ears” (a subtle reference to All-Might’s signature hairdo), while Bakugo's hood has spikes to match his usual costume, and Todoroki has an oversized hood that wraps around his neck.
Series creator Kohei Horikoshi will serve as chief supervisor and original character designer and the original cast and production members of the previous movies are returning, too. Kenji Nagasaki will direct the new film alongside scriptwriter Yousuke Kuroda and composer Yuki Hayashi.
The official movie's Twitter page also announced that the movie will feature a new character: Rody Soul. Although not much is known about him, Rody Soul keeps his intentions hidden and secretly distrusts heroes. Thus, it is unknown whether he will be helping Midoriya and the other heroes or he will be siding with Humanize. Rody was created by Kohei Horikoshi and will be voiced by Ryo Yoshizawa (Tokyo Revengers, Gintama 2).
In addition, a new key visual was released for the anime film, which first appeared on the latest Shonen Jump. In this new visual, Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki are eyeing to surpass their superhero mentors and set up new legacies as heroes. For Todoroki, it's his father's legacy; Midoriya wants to surpass the legacy of his favorite hero -- All-Might -- and Bakugo aims to impress Best Jeanist, his internship mentor. This new visual is featured as a clear file and will be given alongside a presale ticket for the movie in select theaters in Japan, starting on June 25th.
The franchise is continuing to hype fans for the new movie with another new key visual. In this visual, there is a collage of our favorite heroes as well as some new characters like Rody Soul, a character specifically made for this film.
Furthermore, it was recently announced that moviegoers who attend the opening screenings of the film in Japan will receive a special limited-edition manga by MHA creator Kohei Horikoshi. The manga will feature a brand new, original story, an interview with Horikoshi and the editors of Shonen Jump, and some information regarding the new character designs.
There has also been a recent announcement of another new character for the film. Previously, fans only got a glimpse as to who the enemy, the Humanize, are from the teaser trailer. Yet, in a recent announcement, fans received the name of the primary villain who is leading the Humanize, Flect Turn. It was also announced that the voice actor for Flect Turn is Kazuya Nakai (Gintama and Samurai Champloo).
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