According to a new report, an upcoming MCU film is going to be heavily inspired by anime.
Throughout the next couple years, despite seemingly major delays in MCU television releases, the studio will continue pumping out movies like a superhero flick machine.
In 2023 alone, the MCU will be releasing three films in theaters (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Marvels), giving fans no shortage of new feature-length content about their favorite characters.
Now, more information may have been revealed about a source of inspiration for an upcoming project.
An Anime-Inspired Captain Marvel 2
According to a report by industry expert Jeff Sneider of The Hot Mic podcast, November's The Marvels will be "very anime inspired:"
"One thing that I’ve heard is 'The Marvels' is very anime-inspired."
No other context or information was shared — including whether that inspiration will be visual, plot-centric, or something else entirely.
In recent months, many major Hollywood features have had anime inspiration, from Turning Red and Bullet Train to Creed III and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Regarding the third Creed film, star Michael B. Jordan — who also plays the MCU's Killmonger, an anime fan according to an episode of What If...? — discussed the anime inspiration with Polygon. He explained that, in anime, "there’s all these similar tones, themes, and feelings between them all ... for me, tapping into that was just a part of me:"
"When you’re watching anime, there’s all these similar tones, themes, and feelings between them all that in a sense boil down to when a hero is challenged, and they usually have a best friend or rival that’s the one challenging them in a lot of ways. There’s a lot of different ways anime iterates on these themes and feelings. So for me, tapping into that was just a part of me."
The Oscar-nominated Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was also full of anime inspiration. Director Joel Crawford told Variety that he wanted audiences to be able to "feel the imprint of anime" in the Puss in Boots sequel, adding that "it was fun to take on that inspiration and design the shape of the characters, but also the action of the world:"
"I remember [as a young child seeing] the hand-drawn explosions and the whole thing felt so epic. It was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced, I was drawing dust clouds afterward and they were characters themselves. It was fun to take on that inspiration and design the shape of the characters, but also the action of the world."
How Might Anime Inspire The Marvels?
Given that The Marvels is a live-action movie and not an animated one, visual inspiration from anime would theoretically be limited to the visual effects. However, the opening sequence of Ms. Marvel on Disney+, starring Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan, one of the featured characters in the November movie, was, in a sense, animated. Throughout the show, too, animated-style words and phrases were blended into the live-action scenery.
It is not unheard of to use animation within a live-action setting, something the film's director, Nia DaCosta, could implement. The visual inspiration Crawford recounted to Variety could be where this anime influence comes in for The Marvels.
The Marvels could take the Creed III approach to anime inspiration and include that influence into the film's plot. The three main characters — Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and the aforementioned Kamala Khan — will inevitably form — or re-form — their relationships in compelling ways, potentially challenging one another in the manner Jordan described.
The Marvels releases in theaters on November 10.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
