Sony is still developing its live-action adaptation of One Punch Man, and it’s brought on Rick and Morty writers Dan Harmon and Heather Anne Campbell.
With superhero movies not being as popular as they used to be, the two next big things that Hollywood is trying to tackle are video game and anime adaptations. Both The Last of Us and Fallout have proven successful on the games front, and One Piece was a massive hit for Netflix too. Anime is obviously massively popular these days, and while One Punch Man isn’t on people’s minds as much as it used to be (even if season 3 is finally on the way), it’s still getting a live-action adaptation from Justin Lin, the very same director that’s being eyed up for Spider-Man 4. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lin’s One Punch Man film is getting a rewrite – from Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon, and writer on the animated series Heather Anne Campbell no less.
Lin makes sense as a choice to handle a live-action One Punch Man film, given his experience with blockbusters like Star Trek Beyond and multiple Fast & Furious films, though I’d have to assume Harmon and Campbell’s involvement is mostly due to their history of working on comedy animated series. It would actually be a reunion of sorts for Harmon and Lin, though, as the filmmaker did actually direct a few episodes of Community, which Harmon also created.
Production was originally expected to start at the end of 2022, with Lin supposedly working on a rewrite with other writers at the time, though clearly that didn’t pan out for whatever reason. Outside of that, long-time Sony producer Avi Arad will be producing the film alongside his son Ari Arad. Details on the film’s plot and how closely it will follow the original manga/ anime aren’t clear right now, and there’s no word on a release date, so in the meantime you’ll just have to wait until season 3 drops.