Since he unexpectedly hit the brakes on his involvement in Fast X (when the movie had already started shooting), we've been wondering what director Justin Lin will switch over to. Now we know – he's agreed to handle Sony's adaptation of popular manga satire One Punch Man.
The massively popular title is a comedic action series about a superhero named Saitama who, as the title suggests, can defeat literally any enemy with a single punch. The only person not impressed with Saitama’s ability is Saitama himself; he’s completely bored with fighting and only gets excited when it seems like he finally has a challenge.
Created in 2009 by Japanese artist ONE as a webcomic, the story quickly went viral. In 2012, it was then published on Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump Next company with illustrations by Yusuke Murata and ONE. The series became huge with worldwide sales totaling more than 30 million copies.
When the English edition published by VIZ Media debuted in the US in 2015, the first and second volumes made the New York Times Manga Bestsellers list and was nominated for an Eisner and a Harvey Award. Since then, the popularity of One Punch Man has led to a critically acclaimed anime series, plus games across different platforms. Venom's Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg are at work on the script.
Sony has been planning an adaptation since at least 2020, with Ari and Avi Arad attached as producers. Lin's recruitment should give it a little extra power behind its production fist, but the biggest question remaining is whether a live-action version can do justice to the zany world.