T5W#514-Top 5 Live Action Anime Adaptations Michael B Jordan Could Direct

Besides being one of the most talented and awesome actors living among us at the moment, Michael B. Jordan is a huge, huge fan of Anime.  Much of his love medium can be seen in his 2023 diretorial debut with Creed III, from the Anime easter eggs in Adonis’ room as a kid to how Jordan staged his actions sequences with Anime flair and imagery.  I’ve heard recently that it’s always been a dream of Jordan to direct an Anime feature film and let me tell you, Creed III is as Live Action Anime a film as you can get to I’d say he’s more than proven he has what it takes.  Naturally this presents the question: which title should he take on?  And could Michael B Jordan succeed where most filmmakers have not (rare exceptions to the rule there may be).  Well Top 5 Wednesday answers the call to this challenge as I present my picks for the Top 5 Live Action Anime Adaptations Michael B Jordan Could Direct.

 
Side Note: I’m going to be looking at titles that have not had a live action adaptation of any kind on the big or small screen.  So while some choices are obvious: No Dragon Ball Z.  No Bleach.  And while there was an easter egg of a Lupin III poster in Creed’s room, Lupin III did get a live action movie a few years back, so that wont count either.
 
#5-Hellsing

How the hell (no pun intended) have we not gotten a live action Hellsing yet?  A super powered vampire with the most bad ass pistols known to man teamed up with a hot police girl to hunt down the forces of Hell?  What’s not to get excited for about that?  Ok so this choice comes from the recent mega success of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which starred Michael B. Jordan in dual leading roles as the Smoke Stack Twins.  Coogler and Jordan have worked together for years on several films, including the first Creed and Black Panther.  I cant imagine the pair haven’t shared tips and lessons about their respective knacks for filmmaking together and if Coogler could craft such a dynamite horror/action flick like Sinners, just imagine what Jordan could do with Alucard’s reign of terror.

 
#4-Super Dimension Fortress Macross

It feels natural to put Mobile Suit Gundam on this list (especially since Jordan made a cheeky reference to it in Marvel’s What If… animated series and a Gundam Astray is seen in Creed III).  However, I’m going against the grain since that project is kind of in the works.  Instead how about letting Jordan at another long gestating Mecha project.  Instead of doing a general Robotech film, why not focus on the most popular era of that series, the Macross Saga.  Hikaru or Rick.  Lisa or Misa.  Minmei or Minmei.  Roy or Roy.  Top Gun: Maverick showed us that fighter plane action scenes have come a long way and turning those planes into giant robots is every kids dream.  Also how cool would it be to see Michael B Jordan in a Valkyrie (and yes I’ll also be thinking about characters the actor could play if I think he could).

 
#3-My Hero Academia

Like Robotech/Macross, a Live Action My Hero Academia project has been in development hell since the show dropped back in 2016.  While Superhero Fatigue is now a much discussed subject, the story of Izuku “Deku” Midoriya’s quest to become the next #1 hero could be the inspiring light that breathes much needed life back into the genre after years of depressing DCEU films and underwhelming MCU offerings.  If you look up Michael B Jordan’s favorite Anime, he’s got a lot of love for Shonen Action titles, one of which we’ll be talking about momentarily.  I think it’d be great for him to test his mettle with various powers and personalities and fleshing out a world of hope and heroism for a new generation.

 
#2-Naruto

Ok, call me crazy but I’m not sure I can put Dragon Ball Z on this list.  I just don’t think that the art of live action filmmaking can properly capture and portray the high speed, high powered fight scenes that make the Anime special (and the less said about Dragon Ball: Evolution the better).  There is another much beloved Shonen Anime that hasn’t been attempted yet in live action: Naruto.  As we saw in Creed III, Jordan’s knack for Anime style fight scenes is evident and those talents could easily be put to use bringing the world of Ninjutsu, Nine Tailed Foxes, Sharingan and “BELIEVE IT!!!” to life.  This is a very different kind of action flick than Creed though, moving from brutal boxing to elaborate martial arts.  Still, Jordan might be a good fit for a title he’s got a lot of passion for.
 

#1-Megalobox

It’s obvious from Creed III that Michael B Jordan is a maestro when it comes to executing exciting fight scenes drenched in Anime.  From high powered hits to rapid movements, I can see why Anime like Hajime no Ippo were a major inspiration for him.  But there are other boxing Anime out there and Megalobox could be a solid choice for Jordan’s talents.  It’s an underdog story with mechanized boxing gear so it fits the Rocky/Creed esque mold but with a fun scifi twist and a lead character Jordan could play to perfection.  Yeah it’s good for him to flex his directing skills in other genres, and he should.  But still, Mechanized Boxing…it’s gotta be tempting right?