Justin Lin, a filmmaker, has been tapped to create a film adaptation of the popular comic ‘One Punch Man.’ Lin will helm the film, which is based on a script by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner, who wrote ‘Venom’ and ‘Jumanji: The Next Level.’Lin’s first project will be ‘One Punch Man,’ following his statement in April that he would not be directing ‘Fast X,’ the latest instalment in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise.
He’d previously directed four Star Trek films, beginning with 2006’s ‘Tokyo Drift,’ and most recently, ‘Star Trek Beyond,’ in 2018.
‘One Punch Man,’ a webcomic created by Japanese artist ONE in 2009, follows Saitama, an ordinary, unemployed man who trains to become a superhero and develops the ability to destroy any opponent, no matter how powerful, with a single punch.Saitama’s immense power comes at the expense of any true excitement in his life, leaving him bored and apathetic even while he rescues the world from impossibly dangerous situations. The series follows Saitama as he joins the Hero Association, a group that uses superhumans to battle evil, in the hopes of finally facing a foe who can truly test him.
After a viral success in 2009, ‘One Punch Man’ was remade in manga format in the Japanese magazine Shueisha’s Tonari no Young Jump Next, using Yusuke Murata’s drawings. With over 30 million copies sold globally, the manga has proven to be highly popular. Viz Media has been publishing an English translation of the manga since 2015, and it has been a New York Times bestseller.
The manga has already been turned into an anime series, first by Madhouse in 2015 and subsequently by J.C.Staff in 2019, and it has recently inspired a console and mobile game adaptation. The manga has received nominations for an Eisner Award in 2015 and a Harvey Award in 2016 for its unusual sense of humour and parody of typical superhero cliches.