One punch man live action sony pictures justin lin – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Justin Lin is making a One Punch Man movie

But who will play the bald-headed hero?

But who will play the bald-headed hero?

Image: Viz Media
Emma Roth
is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

One Punch Man is getting a live-action film adaptation through Sony Pictures that will bring our beloved bald-headed hero, Saitama, and his mechanical sidekick Genos, to life on the big screen, according to a report from Deadline.

The production team sounds solid, with Fast & Furious director Justin Lin on deck, along with scriptwriters Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, who previously worked on Venom and Jumanji: The Next Level. Arad Productions, a studio that has credits in Spider-Man: Homecoming and the live-action Ghost in the Shell will serve as the producers. The One Punch Man adaption could go into production by the end of this year, Deadline reports.

Anime fans have been burned by live-action adaptions in the past

There still aren’t any details on who will actually star in the film and — most crucially — who will play Saitama, the self-made hero who delivers deadpan lines and knocks enemies out with (yes) one punch. At least we can probably rule out Vin Diesel (our token action movie bald guy), considering Lin and Diesel reportedly got into a spat that led to Lin’s departure from Furious X. It’s also too early to know what portions of the storyline the film will cover. Perhaps it will attempt to squeeze in the entirety of season one, concluding with Saitama’s battle with Lord Boros.

One Punch Man, which started out as a manga in 2009, was adapted into an anime by Madhouse Studios in 2015 and follows Saitama’s evolution into one of the world’s (and universe’s) strongest heroes. J.C. Staff took over production for season two but fans noticed an unfortunate dip in animation quality.

While I’m looking forward to seeing how the live-action adaption pans out, I’m still feeling a little hesitant. There have been far too many — mostly American-made — live-action anime adaptions that fail to capture the show’s original essence, like Netflix’s Death Note, for example.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.