If your day was going well, let us tell you that a One Punch Man live-action project is in development. As soon as the news became official, fans were quick to voice their disappointment and concerns. Given the mostly negative track record of live-action adaptations, the discourse is completely understandable.
The news of Dan Harmon, the creator of Rick and Morty, joining the project was a hopeful development. One Punch Man is a complex source material to imagine in a live-action format, so the Rick and Morty creator’s involvement might still not be enough to save the project.
Rick and Morty creator’s involvement in the One Punch Man live-action
The live-action film adaptation by Sony was first announced in 2020. In 2024, Dan Harmon and Heather Ann Campbell, the creator and writer of Rick and Morty, respectively, reportedly joined the project. Their involvement was aimed at rewriting the script (according to an Anime News Network article). Since then, there has been a lack of updates on the status of the project.
For now, it’s safe to assume that the live-action is in a developmental hell, given the lack of any concrete updates. If we still had to think about the potential of the movie, the future doesn’t look too bright. Even though both Rick and Morty and One Punch Man are comedy series, Dan Harmon’s involvement might not be able to save the project.
The quality of humor in both series is extremely different. Apart from that, One Punch Man has many other important elements like the action sequences, which can be difficult to bring to life. These concerns are the reason fans are not too hopeful or excited about the future of the live-action project.
Here’s what makes One Punch Man especially difficult for the live-action format
The standout aspects of One Punch Man are its comedy, action, and how unconventional Saitama is. The comedy is both silly and witty, depending on the characters involved in a particular scene. The action sequences are complicated mostly because of the villains. In the first season of the show, the villains look fairly normal.
For instance, villains like Mosquito Girls, Deep Sea King, Beefcake, and Boros aren’t as weird-looking as the villains from the Monster Association. These villains would need heavy use of special effects. That’ll shoot up the budget significantly, and we still don’t have any certainty if the villains will look good or even decent. What if they look unbearably grotesque or ugly?
Saitama is a great character, and his casting will make or break the show. The ‘goofy main character’ archetype commonly seen in Hollywood won’t work for someone like Saitama. The actor will really need to sell his plain appearance and his coolness during fights.
Checking all these boxes, even in theory, sounds quite daunting. It would be even more challenging to nail all these elements. Moreover, these are just the basics and the non negotiable aspects. The live-action would need a lot more to please the fans, which is a conversation we can have when the project is confirmed to be in production, so until next time!
One Punch Man is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
