My Hero Academia Creator Reveals How Spider-Man 2 Scene Served As Key Inspiration for Manga

In a recent interview, Kōhei Horikoshi reveals how the Marvel superhero inspired the My Hero Academia manga.

By Levin Plassery

Updated on Aug 14, 2024 | 11:25 PM IST | 63.5K

My Hero Academia [PC - Crunchyroll - Studio Bones]

Disclaimer: This article includes spoilers for My Hero Academia Manga and Chapter #430

Chapter #430 marked the end of Kōhei Horikoshi’s decade-long manga series. With over 100 million copies in circulation, My Hero Academia is one of the most popular manga series of all time. Along with spinoffs, anime films, and even video games, there is no questioning how well the series has done overall.

In a recent interview with ComicBook, the mangaka reveals details about how the series changed his life forever. The manga began serialization in Shueisha’s Shonen manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014. As of writing, the manga series has been collected into 14 tankōbon volumes.

The interview was done in support of the latest film from the franchise, My Hero Academia: You’re Next. Kōhei Horikoshi said that he was excited to see many characters outside of Class A get more screen time in the film. Talking about his manga series, Horikoshi-san mentioned that there was a particular scene in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 that inspired the series.

“There is a scene in Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey Maguire, in which Spider-Man stops a runaway train. There, ordinary passengers see Spider-Man's true face. But then a child hands him the mask he found and says, 'I won't tell anyone.' I think that scene depicts the answer to the question, 'What is a hero?'" said the mangaka.

Izuku Midoriya - My Hero Academia [PC - Crunchyroll - Studio Bones]

Kōhei Horikoshi believes that a hero is a person who helps ordinary people, who help them in return. This scene also hints at why the manga’s main character Deku (Izuku Midoriya), despite not having a quirk is one of the strongest heroes. The mangaka also said that he wanted the overall theme to resonate with the audience and never forced the storyline.

In the final chapter of My Hero Academia, the series ends on a full circle with All Might once again coming in clutch to save Deku. This scene is similar to the one in the Spider-Man 2 movie where the bystanders help the friendly neighborhood hero. With speculation rising on whether Deku will return as a Hero, it’s only a matter of time before we see some of our favorite superheroes and villains again. Stay tuned for the latest news on My Hero Academia!

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