Sony's Columbia Pictures are in somewhat of a predicament. They want to keep chasing the superhero trend, but the only notable names they have are Spider-Man and characters associated with the Webhead. Not counting the times they loaned Peter Parker out to Marvel Studios, the Venom series so far has been a mildly entertaining callback to the goofy 90s/2000s era of comic book movies and Into the Spider-Verse is probably the best movie to ever feature the character. On the other hand, Morbius flopped hard at the box office, twice. Maybe they figured they'd have better luck with one of the most popular superheroes from Japan.

Originally a webcomic from 2009 by a quirky independant artist known as ONE, the series about a down-on-his-luck yet comically overpowered superhero has since had a Shonen Jump manga illustrated by Yusuke Murata, an anime series and even a fighting game. The movie reportedly started development some time ago, with frequent Marvel producer Avi Arad set to produce and the duo who wrote both the Jumanji reboot and Venom writing the scripts. It's now confirmed that the director will be Taiwanese-American director Justin Lin, known for his work on the Fast & Furious franchise starting with Tokyo Drift as well as Star Trek Beyond and episodes of True Detective and Community. 

Lin was also confirmed several years ago to be directing an adaptation of the legendary manga Lone Wolf & Cub, for which he said he wanted to stay true to the source material by casting Asian actors. No cast has been confirmed yet for OPM, but hopefully he can convince the studio to put the same effort into hiring actors that can pass as their characters authentically. Then again, One Punch Man is set in a world where every country is connected as a massive supercontinent, so "authenticity" can only go so far.

Are you guys hyped by the prospect of a One Punch Man live-action? Who would you cast as Saitama and the others? Let us know below!