Recently, we discussed Thor Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi’s dedication to authenticity when it comes to him taking on the role of director for the live-action Akira flick. Once again, Hollywood is trying to capitalize on the popularity of a manga/anime by making it a real-life movie with real actors, and Waititi knows the eggshells he is walking on.
Shortly after stating that he would be using an all-Asian cast for his take on Akira, Taika Waititi was tapped yet again to return to the MCU for Thor 4: Love and Thunder, which sees Natalie Portman taking on the role as the God of Thunder (this happened in the comics, and it was pretty awesome).
However, with the demand for Waititi’s skills as director, there comes a toll on his availability, and that means that Akira has been put on the backburner. Originally set for a May 2021 release date, Akira had to be pushed back to make room for the November 2021 release of Love and Thunder. Makes sense, but we just hope this gives all the powers that be the time needed to make Akira something special, and not another Death Note. Or Dragon Ball Evolution. Or Full Metal Alchemist. Or Bleach. Or… you get it.
Okay, so now for the good news- Katsuhiro Otomo, the original creator of Akira, has stated that he and his team are working on an animated sequel series for Akira that will “incorporate the entirety of the manga’s story.” Beyond that, we do not know if the animated series will have any fresh new material in the form of a new story that attaches on the end of the manga, or if it’s just going to be an animated sequel to the movie that the manga continued off of. Since the manga had a lot of material that continued after the conclusion of the movie, whatever we get will be interesting for sure.
A release date for the sequel series has not been given.
