Marvel Star Thinks Live-Action Anime Needs To Get One Thing Right To Succeed

While it may seem odd for Michael B. Jordan to be discussing anime so much, it’s because of the medium’s influence on his own directing in Creed III.

Jordan also stars in the Creed franchise, the Rocky spin-off series that helped to establish him as a household name as an actor, with the third film featuring his directorial debut.

While directing the boxing scenes in Creed III Jordan turned to anime as an inspiration, leading naturally to his comments about anime adaptations. 

According to Michael B. Jordan, American film adaptations of anime have failed largely because they’re approached without a sense of fandom.

He points out that the adaptations are often approached as popular IP, without any appreciation for the deeper themes and stylistic choices that led those anime to become popular in the first place.

To him, it would take a dedicated superfan behind the film to make a successful anime adaptation as they would approach it with an understanding of what makes the source material work. 

Of course, Michael B. Jordan also acknowledges that being a fan of anime isn’t enough to make a good film adaptation. He also discussed the technical difficulties of adapting the medium.

He points out that conventional camera work and current technology can’t replicate the freedom of the animated medium, inherently limiting how closely live-action adaptations can mimic the style of an anime. Creative use of technology and unconventional filmmaking are required to even imitate anime. 

Live-action anime adaptations have largely been considered failures, not just by Micahel B. Jordan but by audiences and critics in general. Dragonball Evolution is often held up as the ultimate example of a poor adaptation with the acting, visual effects, and writing all drawing near-universal disdain.

Even adaptations that aren’t as universally ridiculed, like the live-action version of Ghost in the Shell, struggled to capture what made the original great. They were hampered by white-washed casting and writing that watered down the classic story it attempted to recreate. 

While Michael B. Jordan specifically discussed anime, he pointed out how difficult it is to adapt animated properties into live action in general.

Since an animated world is entirely constructed the visual style is less restrictive, limited only by budget and imagination, and lacking the practical concerns for things like finding appropriate shooting locations or blending visual effects with physical actors.

The difficulties of adapting animation into live-action are obvious, with even Disney’s track record adapting their own properties.

It’s obvious that Michael B. Jordan has a deep love and appreciation for anime, openly calling it one of his biggest influences as he steps into the ring as a director.

He offers a unique perspective on the topic of live-action adaptations seeing it as both a fan and a filmmaker. Perhaps someday we’ll get to see Jordan take his own stab at adapting one of his favorite anime.