‘My Hero Academia’ Stars Address Its Live-Action Potential

My Hero Academia hasn’t been around as long as Iron Man, but both heroes have something in common; They are immensely popular, and their quirky stories have solidified their superhero reputation. Now, there is one thing My Hero Academia must do to truly one-up Tony Stark, and that is to head into live-action.

So, it’s a really good thing several of the stars behind My Hero Academia are down for the adaptation.

With live-action takes on anime becoming increasingly common, fans have started to wonder when My Hero Academia may make the big move. Recently, ComicBook had a chance to speak with three of the anime’s stars, and it was there the trio discussed whether My Hero Academia can be done IRL.

During a recent appearance at Anime Expo, Daiki Yamashita (JPN voice of Izuku Midoriya) said he would need a live-action take on My Hero Academia to do one very important thing.

“I would really like them to honor the world of the manga and the anime the workers all built, so that would be my first request. I’d them to protect that,” the actor said.

As for Izuku’s English voice actor, Justin Briner said respect is what the adaptation would come down to.

“Treat the material with the respect it deserves, and I feel like you’ll end up with a product that is deserving of the acclaim,” the actor said.

“It’s such a special piece of media on its own and you can that tell as the fans gravitate to it that, almost instantly, that you wouldn’t want to mess with that much. You don’t want to reboot or change the tone of the show at all because what it is now is so personal and beautiful that I think that would translate just fine.”

The voice behind Yaoyorozu is also totally on-board with the idea. Colleen Clinkenbeard, who directs the show’s English dub, says Hollywood would have to put a fan behind the camera of such an adaptation.

“I think that Hollywood and the movie-making industry in general has gotten so good at knowing fans and probably because we’re starting to hire fans. You get people like Joss Whedon in place and he honors it. He is a true, deeply bred fan. You can expect that to follow more faithfully and expect it to be something that fans are gonna actually respect and enjoy,” the actress told ComicBook.

“I say now is the time. I’m glad it’s later rather than earlier.”

Still, there is one caveat both Briner and Clinkenbeard had to such an adaptation. If My Hero Academia were to ever head to Hollywood, both stars say the budget is going to be real important. After all, you cannot do a Detroit Smash justice with pocket change… unless you are actually All Might.

Do you think My Hero Academia can be done in live-action? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime! For more of our interview with the cast of My Hero Academia, you can check out the full write-up here!

For those unfamiliar with the My Hero Academia juggernaut, the series was created by Kohei Horikoshi and has been running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump since July 2014. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, who lives in a world where everyone has super powers but he was born without them. Dreaming to become a superhero anyway, he’s eventually scouted by the world’s best hero All Might and enrolls in a school for professional heroes. The series has been collected into 15 volumes so far, and has been licensed by Viz Media for an English language release since 2015.