My Hero Academia's 4th film makes no sense (and it completely destroys the timeline)

With the recent release of a trailer for the upcoming fourth film in the My Hero Academia franchise this week, fans finally learnt exactly what the upcoming film would cover. Likewise, this also disclosed the rough timeline of when the film takes place, with the trailer release specifying that it takes place at roughly the same time the television anime series is currently set at.

Unfortunately, fans don’t quite know if the coming My Hero Academia film is canon or not yet, with the trailer release earlier this week not offering any clarity on that matter. While the previous three films are generally considered canon, but incidental to and separate from the mainline story, there’s no guarantee You’re Next is also put into the same group.

That being said, some eagle-eyed My Hero Academia fans have realized a few major discrepancies with the film’s alleged timing and the concurrent events of the mainline series. While not necessarily a “dealbreaker” in terms of enjoyment for the film or its being considered canon, these discrepancies certainly are some difficult ones to reconcile.

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New My Hero Academia film’s latest trailer creates major timing issues for its events

How it destroys the timeline, explained

As mentioned above, the My Hero Academia franchise’s new anime film is allegedly set to take place at roughly the same time as current events in the television anime series do. In other words, the film is meant to be set at roughly the time of the Star and Stripe arc, which is a fair amount of time prior to the U.A. Traitor arc. The anime’s 7th season is set to resume adaptation of the manga series with the Star and Stripe arc.

This is important due to the fact that the U.A. Traitor arc sees protagonist Izuku “Deku” Midoriya receive a new suit at its tail end while leading into the series’ Final War arc. However, Deku’s hero outfit as seen in the trailers for the franchise’s upcoming You’re Next film is the same as what he sports during the Final War arc and the final scenes of the U.A. Traitor arc.

While it’s possible that the film is meant to take place concurrent to events which My Hero Academia season 7 will cover, this makes its trailer release a relatively confusing choice. If the intent is for the film to be set during the events of season 7 rather than in between the events of seasons 6 and 7, a trailer releasing during season 7’s airing would’ve better communicated this.

That being said, there are other issues for the timing of the film’s events as well. Despite the tragedies they suffered during the Paranormal Liberation War arc, all characters involved in those events who appear in the trailer seem relatively happy and unaffected. Assuming the film is meant to bridge the gap between seasons 6 and 7 timing wise, very little time has passed since the traumatic and nearly fatal events these children have experienced.

Overall, it seems that the upcoming My Hero Academia film can’t quite decide where it wants to be set, which is extremely confusing for fans as a result. While the film deserves the benefit of the doubt until it has been fully released, it does seem to make no sense timing wise, which has major effects on the series’ timeline if the film is indeed considered canon.

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