Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan Comments on Kilmonger Comparisons to Dragon Ball's Vegeta

Michael B. Jordan has quickly become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood - and part of the [...]

By Kofi Outlaw

Michael B. Jordan has quickly become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood - and part of the reason why has to do with the diversity of the actor's tastes. Not only is Jordan the star of urban tales like The Wire, or franchise legacies like Creed, he's also a major fan of Japan's anime genre, and has made big strides to be part of the rising wave of anime's mainstream crossover. Since Jordan has opened up about his love for anime, fans have been obsessed with linking Jordan to various anime roles - including Dragon Ball's Vegeta!

Well, in a recent interview Michael B. Jordan spoke on the wave of anime-themed memes that hit the Internet when he starred in Marvel's Black Panther - memes that compared his look as Erik Killmonger to Vegeta's Saiyan armor.

As Michael B. Jordan explained to HighSnobiety, he didn't consciously intend for Killmonger's look to invoke Vegeta comparisons - but he definitely wasn't trying to knock those comparisons down, either:

"I can't remember if me and Ryan [Coogler, director of Black Panther] talked about it. I'm not sure if that was intentional," says Jordan. "I thought it was dope — even a happy coincidence. I thought it was fly that people saw that and actually turned it into [memes]."

The love Michael B. Jordan by anime fans has grown so big since that time that now Dragon Ball fans actually say it would be great to see Jordan play Vegeta in a live-action Dragon Ball movie! That's a huge endorsement from the usually-fickle anime crowd, so Jordan should rightly feel honored. Until his big Dragon Ball movie break comes, however, the actor will still be busy starring in the Gen: Lock anime series.

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super's big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.

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