Warning: Contains spoilers for My Hero Academia: You’re Next.Big anime franchises are known for releasing theatrical films alongside their shows, andMy Hero Academiais no different. The series has released a new film concurrently with one of its seasons every few years since 2018, and what’s especially interesting is that, unlike other anime films,My Hero Academia’s films are supposed to be canon to the story, thus giving people far more reason to watch them.
Unlike other big anime,My Hero Academiadoesn’t have that many films; only four have been produced at the time of writing, and with the manga over andMy Hero Academia’s final seasonin production, it’s unknown if it will receive another one. Nevertheless,everyMy Hero Academiafilm does a great job of enhancing the anime with their engaging stories and breathtaking animation and direction, with each one finding some way to top the film that came before it. When looking at each film as a whole, however, there’s a definite hierarchy in quality, and it’s plenty worth analyzing.
4My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
Released On July 27, 2025; Directed By Kenji Nagasaki
My Hero Academia: Two HeroesisMy Hero Academia’s first theatrical film released in 2018. Taking place shortly before season 3, Izuku and his friends travel to I-Island, a mecca for advanced Quirk research where Izuku meets Melissa Shield, a genius inventor who’s the daughter of All Might’s former sidekick and was born Quirkless, just like Izuku. What starts as a fun vacation turns deadly when terrorists attack I-Island, however, and with even All Might incapacitated, it’s up to Izuku, Melissa, and all their friends to save the day.
My Hero Academia: Two Heroeswas the franchise’s first movie, and that shows itself in some of the worst of ways. Not only is there an excessive amount of exposition and flashbacks to the anime, but its villains are bland and it has the worst use of the extended cast of any film, with every returning character aside from Izuku, Bakugo, All Might, and a select few more providing little more than cameos.My Hero Academia: Two Heroeshas some of the weakest writing oftheMy Hero Academiafilms, and that’s especially true when compared to the later films.
That being said, the film isn’t without its merit. While the villains aren’t written that well,Melissa and David Shield are some of the most entertaining characters in all ofMy Hero Academia, with Melissa serving as a great foil to Izuku and David’s friendship with All Might perfectly driving the plot and developing both of their characters from start to finish. Add in some great action scenes and comedy, andMy Hero Academia: Two Heroesis great for anyMy Hero Academiafan, even if it doesn’t hold up as well as some of the other films.
3My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission
Released On June 30, 2025; Directed By Kenji Nagasaki
My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Missionis the thirdMy Hero Academiafilm released in 2021. Taking place sometime before season 6, the internships Izuku and his friends have undertaken put them on a global task force against Humarise, a cult that deifies Quirkless people and seeks to kill everyone else in the world. By pure chance, Izuku and a young grifter named Rody Soul end up with the keys to defeating Humarise, and it becomes a race against the clock to put them to use before the entire world as they know it is destroyed.
Not only isWorld Heroes’ Missionanother film that relegates most of the extended cast to little more than cameos, but the most unique elements of the story are never developed as much as they should have been; the international angle never plays much into the plot, and despite the villains being a cult obsessed with Quirkless people, Izuku never has any thoughts about them, despite being the one person who should.My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission’sbiggest problem is that it promises a lot and delivers little in return, and that, unfortunately, brings down its quality.
Much likeTwo Heroes, however,World Heroes’ Missionis largely saved by its original cast. While the villains don’t get much screentime or development,Flect Turn, for what littleMy Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Missiondoes with him, is a wonderfully compelling and intimidating villain; not only do his powers make him a menacing opponent with a unique fighting style, but his trauma does a great job of highlighting some of the negative aspects of Quirks that aren’t always explored in the main story. Flect’s ultimate defeat was rather anticlimactic, but he was a great part of the story, nonetheless.
The biggest standout of the film, however, is its deuteragonist, Rody Soul. In addition to how well he plays off of Izuku,Rody’s arc of making amends with his father and learning to be a more selfless person does a great job of adding heart toMy Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, and it’s one of the strongest character arcs in the entire series. Rody was popular enough to break into the top 10 in one of the last popularity polls, and to some extent, the film is worth watching just for him.
My Hero Academia: You’re Next
Cast
In a world where heroes and villains clash, Deku faces a powerful new threat in the form of Dark Might, an evil doppelgänger of his mentor, All Might. As a mysterious fortress begins devouring entire cities, Class 1-A must rise to stop this unprecedented danger and uncover the villain’s true motives.
2024’sMy Hero Academia: You’re Nextis the latest, and presumably final film in theMy Hero Academiafranchise. As Izuku and his friends prepare for the final battle against Shigaraki, Japan is suddenly attacked by the Gollini Family, an infamous European crime family led by an evil doppelganger of All Might named Dark Might who seeks to take over the country amid its chaotic state. The heroes must band together to stop this new threat from making things even worse for everyone, all while Izuku unravels the connection the mysterious couple of Giulio and Anna have to everything.
Out of everyMy Hero Academiafilm,You’re Nextprobably has the best cast of original characters. In addition to the Gollini Family all having great designs and personalities with plenty of time to explore them,Giulio and Dark Might are two of the best original characters in aMy Hero Academiaproject, with Giulio’s character arc being engaging from start to finish andDark Mightbeing an excellently over-the-top villainous take on All Might. Anna, unfortunately, gets lost in the shuffle as more of a standard damsel in distress, but beyond that, the original cast does not disappoint.
The story, of course, is whereYou’re Nexttruly shines. Between its themes of regression versus progress and how well it forces Izuku and his friends to take charge in a crisis,My Hero Academia: You’re Nextdoes a great job of playing into the themes ofMy Hero Academiaseason 7 and beyondthanks to its focus on the need for society to change. Add in some of the best animation and fight choreography in the anime to date, especially in the film’s climax, andMy Hero Academia: You’re Nextis one of the franchise’s strongest offerings to date.
1My Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising
Released On August 01, 2025; Directed By Kenji Nagasaki
My Hero Academia: Heroes: Risingis the secondMy Hero Academiafilm, released in 2019 in Japan and 2020 in the West. Taking place between the Joint Training and Endeavor Agency arcs of season 5, Izuku and his friends are sent alone to a small island for practical experience with hero work. Unfortunately, the island is attacked by a group of villains led by Nine, a mysterious villain with a copy of All For One seeking to steal the Quirk of a child on the island, everyone needs to step up and defend the island however they can.
WhileMy Hero Academia: Heroes: Risingtakes place during season 5, it was released in the middle of season 4 and contained numerous spoilers for people who didn’t read the manga such as Hawks' character, the previous users of One For All, and Shigaraki’s new appearance after starting the Paranormal Liberation Front.
The villains ofMy Hero Academia: Heroes: Risingaren’t given a particular amount of depth, but that’s more than made up for with their exposure. Unlike other films,My Hero Academia: Heroes: Risinggives its villains enough screen time to fully sell the audience on their personalities and threat levels, with Nine and Chimera especially coming off as intimidating characters who more than justify being so hard to deal with. Nine’s group is probably the best group of villains in any of the movies, and achieving that with so little development is an incredible feat in and of itself.
Another area whereHeroes: Risingsucceeds is with how effectively it uses its supporting cast. Whereas other films typically struggle with making the most of their supporting cast,My Hero Academia: Heroes: Risingis the film with the best handling of the story’s supporting cast, as the enormity of the threat creates a situation where everyone has to contribute something to the fight just so they can survive. Even the main story has problems with giving everyone something to do, soHeroes: Risingdoing such a good job with that is a true testament to the strengths of its writing.
The best part of the film, however, is its handling of Bakugo. The increased focus on Bakugo perfectly plays into how Bakugo was finally starting to get along with Izuku again at that time, and it all culminated inIzuku temporarily sharing One For All with Bakugo to defeat Nine in one of the most beautifully animated sequences in the entire franchise. That small, but intense character writing is the biggest selling point ofMy Hero Academia: Heroes: Rising, and it helps make it thebestMy Hero Academiafilm, to date.
My Hero Academia
Anime series My Hero Academia follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers in a world where most have them. Despite his lack of abilities, he enrolls in a prestigious hero academy, striving to learn the true essence of heroism and fulfill his dream of becoming a hero.
