Will MHA movie 3 be canon?

As the release date for My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission draws near, speculation has begun regarding whether the series' latest film will be canon. Traditionally, films exist outside of their anime's official canon, as they are usually original stories rather than based on existing material. However, since the success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Train, the idea of more canon films has been gaining steam, leaving fans to wonder if MHA will follow suit.

The premise of World Heroes' Mission is that a new group of villains called Humarize claim to be fighting for the salvation of the world. They reference the Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory, which claims future generations of Quirks will become too powerful to control, resulting in the downfall of society. Using a mysterious drug, they are forcing people in densely populated areas to lose control of their Quirks, causing destruction and mayhem that proves their point about the danger uncontrollable Quirks pose to humanity.

The Quirk Singularity Doomsday Theory from My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

Interestingly, the Doomsday Theory idea was introduced in the anime, meaning the argument can be made for the film's existence inside MHA's continuity. It's important to note that World Heroes' Mission is an entirely original story and is not based on existing material. Kohei Horikoshi, the creator of My Hero Academia, is overseeing this new film, meaning he has the leeway to bring elements from the series into WHM.

However, one idea crossing over from anime to film isn't enough evidence. Season 5, Episode 16 of My Hero Academia -- also not based on the manga -- does a great deal to set up World Heroes' Mission, and greatly supports the argument that the film will be canon. Ryuku and Selkie, along with Ochaco and Tsuyu, intercept drug smugglers who possess an unknown, illegal substance that appears to exacerbate someone's Quirk to a dangerous degree, similar to the methods seen used by the Humarizers in the World Heroes' Mission trailer.

Flect Turn, the primary antagonist in My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

That same episode goes a step further with a post-credits scene that indisputably confirms the events of World Heroes' Mission will indeed take place inside the official canon. In this scene, the audience sees the man who appears to be the film's primary antagonist, and he references the fact that the heroes have just thwarted his attempt to obtain more of the illicit drug. He is even standing inside the very same room where the Humarizers are seen meeting in the trailer.

The evidence overwhelmingly points to the idea that My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission will indeed be canon. However, considering it is not based on existing material, it remains unlikely that it will have a significant, if any, impact on MHA's plot moving forward. This is not to say the film will be bad -- if it's anything like its predecessors, it will be amazing. Unfortunately, even though it seems highly likely it will be canon, World Heroes' Mission appears poised to be little more than a side quest of minor significance to My Hero Academia's primary story.

KEEP READING: My Hero Academia Gears Up to Unearth More Todoroki Family Secrets

My Hero Academia is one of the biggest anime in the world, so it goes without saying that we’d get some movies that would hit the big screen, as has been the case with several of the biggest shows in the past. However, a lot of fans are questioning whether or not the My Hero Academia movies are canon or not.

The simple answer is yes, the MHA movies are canon, and that comes directly from Kōhei Horikoshi himself, creator of the manga that the show is based on. Horikoshi, who also supervised My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, the second movie, said the following in an interview with Toho Cinema Magazine in 2018 when asked about the status of the canon:

“Of course, without a doubt, the movie and manga are adjoined, and the movie’s story is connected to the manga story that happens after it.”

All of the My Hero Academia movies even have places within the MHA timeline, taking place usually before or after arcs in the manga, though are not adapted from the manga itself and are original works. This means that, while the movies are all canon according to the people who worked on them, fans dispute their canonicity due to the fact that nothing that happens in them is ever referenced in the anime and their new characters have not yet appeared again.

What Are The My Hero Academia Movies?

There have been three MHA movies released so far:

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018)
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes follows Deku and All Might as they visit an old friend of All Might on a technologically advanced island, but it’s not long before they bump into the rest of 1-A and villains make an appearance.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019)
My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising follows 1-A on summer break as they work as the only heroes on an isolated island. Things are quiet for the class before a mysterious quartet of villains make themselves violently known.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission (2021)
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission follows Deku, Bakugo, and Shoto as they try to stop a terrorist organisation who believe that Quirks will end up destroying the world from, erm, destroying the world.

All three movies are available with both subs and dubs.

Are The My Hero Academia Movies Worth Watching?

As mentioned, the My Hero Academia movies are canon, but the events within them are never mentioned or referenced in the anime so they’re more like standalone adventures. They’re fun but largely inconsequential, though they’re a good way of passing the time while you wait between new seasons.

Most of the fanbase is pretty split on the movies, with some people believing that Bones (the studio who make the anime) allocated too many people to the movies to the detriment of the show, but each one of them is worth watching at least once.

The one that’s probably the most worthwhile is the first movie, Two Heroes, as it does fill in some of All Might’s backstory and deepens the bond between he and Deku.

READ NEXT: My Hero Academia Beginner’s Guide: Everything You Need To Know

Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.