Actor Michael B. Jordan has worn his love of anime on his sleeve in recent years. The star of Black Panther, Creed, Sinners, and more has long had an affinity for series such as Attack on Titan, Naruto, and many other stories that make up the medium. Recently, the prolific star recently sat down with Elvis’ Austin Butler and Gladiator 2’s Paul Mescal to watch viral videos in a hilarious segment. During the sitdown between the talented trio, Jordan couldn’t help but introduce his cohorts to My Hero Academia by showing them one of the pivotal moments from the penultimate season of the anime.
Videos by ComicBook.com
During a new video from the outlet Variety, Jordan, Butler, and Mescal participated in a segment dubbed “Guys Hanging Out Watching YouTube.” During the hilarious video, Michael B. shows his fellow actors the scene from My Hero Academia’s seventh season in which Bakugo seemingly loses his life fighting against Shigaraki and the League of Villains. Hilariously, Austin Butler brings up the fact that showing him this scene spoils the series so far, with Jordan stating that the emotional impact of the scene needs to be seen to be believed. During this segment, Jordan discusses the various themes of anime, bringing up friendship, self-sacrifice, and more, once again highlighting his love of the medium.
How Anime Influences Jordan
In the past, Jordan has garnered major inspiration from the anime world for the projects he’s been involved in. In Marvel’s Black Panther, for example, the villainous Killmonger wore an armored outfit that was clearly inspired by Dragon Ball Z’s Vegeta. When Michael B. had the chance to direct his own film in Creed 3, it was clear that he took inspiration from anime like Hajime no Ippo in many of the boxing scenes. Jordan even takes the chance during this Vanity Fair video to discuss anime’s impact on his latest boxing film.
“There were a lot of fight moments that I saw in anime that I thought would be great to incorporate in Creed 3, to bring out the feeling of this sequence. Like, how do you achieve something in animation that feels so supernatural? How do you bring that to different media?”
During the three actors’ discussion, Butler mentions that he’s seen legendary anime films such as Paprika and Perfect Blue, thought Mescal has some serious catching up to do. While he has seen Dragon Ball Z, which he lists as a “pillar” of the anime world, he had never experienced My Hero Academia before Jordan showed him the Bakugo death scene fakeout. With Jordan having already directed Creed 3 and sharing his desire to one day direct a live-action anime adaptation, it will be interesting to see if the prolific star will one day tackle an established franchise with a future project.
What do you think of Michael B. Jordan’s continued support of the anime industry? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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