In an age where cinema is ruled by superhero movies, can a big budget Hollywood adaptation of a beloved shonen manga hold its own against the likes of Marvel and DC? Alita: Battle Angel was one thing, but Saint Saiya, or Knights of the Zodiac as it's sometimes known, is essentially a superhero story itself. A normie finds a magic macguffin that gives them superpowers and is chosen by a supernatural force to fight the forces of evil and save the world. That describes a good chunk of superhero movies already, so Toei and the studio that brought us Morbius have their work cut out for them if they want this to stand on its own merits. 

Going off this latest Japanese trailer it seems The Witcher director Thomasz Baginski and the rest of the crew have done a good job so far. While I can't speak for its accuracy to the source material, the art direction looks distinctly Japanese-influenced in an Edge of Tomorrow kinda way, and Shang-Chi's stunt coordinator Andy Cheng looks to have created some cool action scenes. In case you missed it, here's an older, longer trailer that gives a slightly better impression of the movie's vibe:

Mackenyu seems pretty confident for a guy in his first leading role in an English-language movie, and if that name sounds familiar to you it's probably because he's also playing Zoro in Netflix's One Piece. As Seiya, he's accompanied by Game of Thrones' Sean Bean as mentor figure Kiddo. His granddaughter Sienna (AKA Saori) is Madison Iseman from the Jumanji reboots, while original Jean Grey Famke Janssen will appear in a role that's not yet been disclosed.

Knights of the Zodiac is out in Japan under the name Saint Seiya: The Beginning on April 28, with a worldwide release date yet to be confirmed. What do you guys think of the trailers so far? Could Hollywood make a good manga adaptation this time? Leave your thoughts below!