My Hero Academia has all but confirmed its third film through teaser images that were posted to the series' official Twitter accounts. Featuring the heroes-in-training Izuku Midoriya, Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo in new costumes, the style of the art and the amount of hype series' creator Kohei Horikoshi and My Hero Academia's official accounts have given it, all point to the idea that a new film is underway. Based on the timing of previous films, the film is expected to hit theaters in the summer of 2021.
Hot off the heels of Two Heroes and Heroes: Rising's box office successes, this third, currently unnamed film has a lot to live up to when it comes to bringing fans to the theaters. It'll face additional challenges as the first film in the series to release in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it has an advantage its predecessors can't match: the amount of never-before-seen corners of the My Hero Academia world it'll likely show fans.
While much speculation has centered on the mysterious phrase the images combine to form – "He will meet the Three Musketeers" – there's a second, equally important detail to these images. Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo's hero costumes all have an emblem sewn onto their shoulders with the letters "WHA." This confirms they'll all be working together under the banner of a single organization, but the fact that there's no known organization in Japan with these letters has caused many to speculate that the letters stand for something along the lines of "World Hero Association."
If this turns out to be true, it'll be big news when it comes to revealing more about the My Hero Academia world. While Horikoshi has covered in detail how Japan has fared in the Quirk-fueled world of heroes and villains, fans have long clamored for more information about the global impact of Quirks and the state of other countries. The spinoff series, Vigilantes, has shed some light on the United States and its top hero Captain Celebrity, but other than that fans are completely in the dark about the world outside Japan.
The third film seems set to change this. The existence of an international hero association suggests that it'll be somewhat similar to INTERPOL or the United Nations Peacekeepers – focusing on bringing in villains that operate internationally or are too powerful for a single country's forces to handle alone. During their time in the WHA, Izuku, Shoto and Katsuki will inevitably meet other promising future heroes as well as the best heroes other countries have to offer. It's also possible we'll meet both heroes and villains alike with Quirks that could rival what have long been the two most powerful Quirks in the series – All For One and One For All.
There's certainly a lot left to be revealed about this third film, and its potential to add to and enhance My Hero Academia's world like never before means there's a lot to be excited about. Keep an eye out for more news as this year's Jump Festa approaches in mid-December.
The My Hero Academia manga is available in English from Viz Media with chapters available weekly on Viz's official site and through the Shonen Jump app. The My Hero Academia anime will return for a fifth season in spring 2021, though its exact release date has not yet been announced.
