My Hero Academia started out as the story of some wide-eyed kids train to be the next generation of heroes – but it (arguably) can’t remain that same kind of story forever. Eventually My Hero Academia has reach a future in which Izuku Midoriya and his friends in Class 1-A reach the time in their lives where they stop practicing to be the next generation of heroes, and actually step up to become that next generation of heroes. Whether it’s through a sudden timeskip, or through natural progression, My Hero Academia has already set the stage for a perfect next generation sequel series.
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Read below for the breakdown of all the ways My Hero Academia is perfectly-suited to follow in the footsteps of Naruto: Shippuden, by launching an exciting My Hero Academia: Next Generations sequel:
A Child’s Dream… Fulfilled
My Hero Academia is centered around the story of Izuku Midoriya, who was the ultimate superhero fanboy, born normal in a world where nearly everyone has a superpowered quirk. Izuku’s story gets in motion when a selfless heroic act convinced the number one superhero in the world to give him the ultimate superpower. The events of My Hero Academia have forced Izuku and his friends at U.A. High School to grow up fast, as they’ve battled the worst villains around, long before they were supposed to.
At that rate, My Hero Academia has arguably already evolved past its initial premise, to the point that the students of Class 1-A are now inspiring younger kids with troubling quirks (Eri). The series is already primed for the current high school characters to become young adults, with a clear lineup of younger characters to come up behind them.
Death of the Old Guard
The My Hero Academia manga is now into a major conflict, known as the “Meta LIberation War” arc. That arc has the Pro Hero world going up against a union of the League of Villains, and the Meta Liberation Army, a group that believes in the free use of quirks, free of government oppression. The actual war is just now getting underway, but a lot of fan theory predicts there could be major losses for Pro Heroes that storm the battlefield. Even if the heroes win, the “Paranormal Liberation Front” and all-out war will likely shatter the Pro Hero system as it stands right now.
Older Meaner heroes
No matter who lives or dies during My Hero Academia’s first big war, the ramifications of that war seem pretty clear. Pro Heroes may fall or be forced to retire, and the students who fight alongside them will likely need to step up and fill the void. The “Next Generation” of pro heroes already seems like it’s just around the corner. And in the case of Izuku, Bakugo, and co., they’ll be heroes that had to come of age faster than just about any generation before them.
Deadlier Next Gen
The next installment of My Hero Academia wouldn’t just be about Izuku and co. becoming older and having to embark on careers as true Pro Heroes. As the anime recently reminded us, the world of My Hero Academia is spiraling toward what some call the “Quirk Singularity Theory.” With every generation of superpowered people that breed, they create a new generation that has even more powerful quirks. Eventually, those powers will spiral out of control and the world will suffer some kind of calamity.
So, while Deku and his fellow Pro Heroes would be trying to keep order in the world (and the villains down), they would also have to keep an eye on just how stable (or not) the new generation coming up under them really was. Meanwhile, character like Eri are prime candidates to showcase just how exciting those volatile new powers can be.
The Timing Couldn’t Be Better
Not to break from the escape of great anime discussion, but given the sharp turn world events have taken, the timing couldn’t be better for My Hero Academia to refocus its story. Because right now, children all over the world are having to grow up very fast and consider some pretty stark ideas, and perhaps it’s time to give them a story that fits those times.
My Hero Academia‘s war story is a fitting metaphor to the type of world-changing calamity kids are now experiencing, and so a new installment following those kids coming out of calamity with a mix of scars and new resolve towards a bright future, couldn’t be more timely.
Villain Evolution
Obviously, My Hero Academia isn’t just the story of how a young generation of kids become the next pro heroes – it’s also the story of the generation of villains that rises to oppose them. As stated for the heroes, eventually the “Old Guard” of villains will fall away, and this new generation of villains will take the lead – with younger and more powerful (and crazy) villains coming up behind them.
A new installment of My Hero Academia would come with some already clear new stories for how the villains also grow into bigger and deadlier threats – and even what would’ve heroes end up falling the dark side. With the revelations of the current war arc, My Hero Academia has just scratched the surface about how malevolent and frightening its villains could be.
Superpowers Plus Ultra
As has been pointed several times throughout this breakdown, there is one clear aesthetic advantage coming with the next generation installment of My Hero Academia: bigger, better, superpower showcase. The Quirk Singularity Theory dictates that the younger generation will bring a bigger and wilder array of quirk powers – while Class 1-A (and their villain counterparts) will have better mastery and use of their own growing powers. As far as anime/manga goes, having beloved characters with even bigger, better sets of powers, is a no brainer.
My Hero Academia is airing season 4 of the anime on Hulu and Funimation. Online chapters of the manga can be found HERE.
