‘Bleach’ Artist Gives Evil Superman An Anime Spin

Superman may not be a hero fans would expect to see in an anime, but that doesn’t mean the DC Comics icon cannot be an otaku. Clark Kent would surely find he’s got a lot in common with guys like Son Goku, and one fan-favorite artist is ready to being the superhero into the anime fold.

So, if DC Entertainment needs a guy to call, Masashi Kudo has some dark ideas for where Superman could go.

Over on Twitter, the artist and character designer shared a backlog of past sketches with fans. It was there Kudo posted some DC Comics art, and his take on Superman looks far less heroic than fans were expecting.

As you can see above, Kudo’s take on the iconic hero goes hard on the shading. Superman is covered in shadows as he floats high in the hair, leaving his cape to drape behind him ripped back. With his abs perfectly shaded, Superman is seen staring down with his eyes glowing a bright red. Such a sight would be creepy enough, but Superman’s gritted jaw takes the drawing to a whole new level of evil.

So far, fans are bickering over whether Kudo meant to take a stab at Evil Superman, but this take on the DC Comics character shares similarities with the baddie. The character debuted back in Superman III under the talent of Christopher Reeve. DC Comics has introduced its own iterations of Evil Superman, but Kudo’s drawing vibes well with this live-action take. So, if DC Entertainment wants to tell a different sort of Superman tale, an anime take on Evil Superman is just the thing fans would like to see.

So, do you think Superman is ripe for an anime reimagining? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Bleach was first created by Tite Kubo for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, running from 2001 to 2016. The series follows the young delinquent Ichigo Kurosaki, who has the ability to see spirits. He soon obtains the power of a Soul Reaper – one meant to usher lost souls to the afterlife – and now has the duty to defend the living world from monstrous dark spirits known as Hollows.

It has been adapted into English thanks to VIZ Media, and has sold over 900 million copies in Japan. The series was later adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012. You can find the series now streaming on Hulu. A live-action adaptation of the series is now streaming on Netflix, and you can read ComicBook.com’s review of the film here.