One Punch Man could be setting up the arrival of its very own Ultron

Modified Apr 26, 2024 09:49 GMT

One Punch Man could be setting up arrival of its very own Ultron — Drive Knight could become One Punch Man's Ultron (Image via Madhouse, Disney)

While the One Punch Man manga is currently adapting the Ninjas Arc, the original webcomic is far ahead and is adapting the Neo Heroes Uprising Arc. With the latest updates from the arc, one can deduce that the upcoming story arcs will hugely focus on Dr. Bofoi, Child Emperor, and Drive Knight. As such, one fan has come up with a unique theory that sees One Punch Man webcomic setting up the arrival of its very own Ultron.

Ultron is a Marvel supervillain. He was once an artificial intelligence but later became a robot. He is self-aware and develops a god complex, holding a grudge against its creator Hank Pym. In addition, he wished to destroy humanity.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the One Punch Man webcomic.

Could Drive Knight be One Punch Man webcomic's new Ultron?

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After observing the latest developments in the Neo Heroes Uprising Arc, one One Punch Man fan on X, @aniFerdz, came up with a theory as per which the manga series might be setting up its very own Ultron, like the one from Marvel Cinematic Universe.

According to the theory, Drive Knight might be the webcomic's Ultron. As seen in the series, Dr. Bofoi and Child Emperor were previously working on an AI program that they abandoned. The two were agonizing for a long time over what they should do with the AI.

However, in the end, they decided to seal it off as its level was too high. Hence, the AI was prone to becoming uncontrollable, leading to a possible rampage.

Wild Emperor as seen in the One Punch Man manga (Image via Shueisha)

Considering how Class S Rank 7 hero Drive Knight has a grudge against Dr. Bofoi, there is a good chance that similar to MCU's Ultron, Drive Knight is also an AI that hates its creator, which, in this case, could be Dr. Bofoi.

There is also a small possibility that Dr. Bofoi might be Drive Knight's father, who used the AI technology to save his son after he was in a near-death situation. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until the webcomic confirms the same.

Drive Knight as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

This also points to the chance that Drive Knight possibly lost his memories from the time he rampaged. According to the story, the Rampaging Cyborg that destroyed Genos' and Drive Knight's villages was the same cyborg. If Drive Knight was the Rampaging Cyborg, he should have no grudge against Dr. Bofoi.

However, after his possible data loss, the information he might have gathered must have been partial. Hence, he blames Dr. Bofoi for the Rampaging Cyborg but does not know that he is the very being that he is after.

Drive Knight watching fellow heroes get slaughtered (Image via Shueisha)

Even Child Emperor once mentioned how augmenting one's brain with an AI program is bound to cause one to lose one's humanity. Drive Knight's lack of humanity can be observed in several parts of the series.

He once refused to help out in a battle, just so that he could analyze his opponents and guarantee his victory. If Drive Knight had still held onto his humanity, he might have not been able to stand still while heroes were getting killed right in front of him.

Targets that Dr. Bofoi keeps an eye on (Image via ONE)

He also pretty much left Genos for dead. However, he did leave him with other heroes, possibly hinting at him having retained some of his humanity. But that could also be the sign that Drive Knight's AI considered Genos a valuable part of his mission of defeating its creator Dr. Bofoi.

Such a theory is also backed up by the fact that Dr. Bofoi keeps an active eye on Drive Knight. This was seen in One Punch Man webcomic chapter 135. Hopefully, fans will get more answers surrounding this theory soon enough.