Justin Lin to Direct ‘One Punch Man’ Movie

Sony has finally attached a director to their One Punch Man movie adaptation. Justin Lin will be behind the camera, while Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinker will be writing the live-action adaptation. They’re mostly known for writing Jumanji: The Next Level and Venom, while Justin Lin has directed multiple Fast films.

One Punch Man itself has a rather exciting publication history. Initially, it started as a webcomic created by the artist ONE. ONE desperately wanted to make comics from early on in his childhood, but most people didn’t like his art style. Instead of giving up, he kept at it and started to publish his own work online. These series include One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100.

Eventually, a hugely respected mangaka reached out to ONE to let him know that he shouldn’t give up hope, even though he had just announced a hiatus from One Punch Man. They decided to collaborate, with Yusuke Murata redrawing the art and ONE on writing duties. It turned out to be the best possible outcome for ONE.

The story of One Punch Man is a whole different take on the Shonen genre. Rather than being built around power scaling and a main character who grows stronger and stronger, it starts with a protagonist who is already extremely powerful. As the name would suggest, Saitama can take out nearly any villain with a single punch. It’s a biting deconstruction of the genre, while also being a loving tribute to it.

There’s no word just yet on when the film will be released, and it’s likely still in preproduction. That being said, there’s a whole anime, manga, and web series out there to explore in the meantime!