Despite My Hero Academia having come to an end, an anime replacement series is already scheduled for release. For the last almost decade, fans have been able to enjoy the journey of Izuku Midoriya (aka Deku), a young boy born without a super-powered quirk in a world full of superheroes. However, after over 170 episodes of the anime and four feature-length movies, My Hero Academia has finally come to an end.
Season 8 marked the end of the mainline My Hero series, with its series finale airing in Japan on December 13. However, the creator behind the hit series already has something in store for fans, set to arrive in the new year.
The Season 2 trailer for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been officially revealed, announcing that the acclaimed My Hero spin-off will debut in January. According to the trailer, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is set to debut in Japan on Monday, January 5, 2026, and will be released in the West on Crunchyroll on the same day.
Vigilantes is a new anime series set in the world of the original My Hero Academia series. It follows a suped-up vigilante named Koichi Haimawari who uses his power to help the citizens around him despite not being a licensed hero.
For those craving more from the My Hero world, Vigilantes works as a perfect replacement, as it sets itself in the same continuity as the original series. It serves not only as a spin-off of the mainline anime but also as a prequel, providing audiences with some context for the world fans find themselves in when the classic My Hero Academia series begins.
Vigilantes kicked off its anime run earlier this year, bringing the manga (which has been running since 2016) to the small screen for the first time. Vigilantes Season 2 is just one of several big-name anime returning with new episodes in January 2026.
Watch the full trailer below:
My Hero Academia Fans Have Even More To Look Forward to in 2026
Thankfully for My Hero Academia fans, Vigilantes Season 2 is just the beginning for the franchise in 2026. The second season of the hit anime spin-off will likley run through the first few months of the year (Season 1 ran for three months), but beyond that, the series has another surprise up its sleeve.
As part of a recent appearance at the Jump Fiesta convention in Tokyo, Japan, it was revealed that the mainline My Hero Academia series is actually returning (kind of) next year.
At the premiere anime fan event, the My Hero team announced that it will release one more epilogue-style episode for the series next May. Due out on May 2, 2026, the new episode will adapt the final chapter of Kohei Horikoshi's oft-celebrated manga. This picks up with the character several years after the Season 8 finale, giving fans an emotional goodbye to their favorite characters from the MHA canon.
So, while audiences can get a taste of the new My Hero Academia replacement with Vigilantes, they can also enjoy the real thing one last time before the mainline franchise shuts its doors forever.
