My Hero Academia: You’re Next’s place in the timeline has been revealed

This is the year of My Hero Academia. Besides more of the hit show, we have another film on the way, and the stars have confirmed exactly where You’re Next will fit into the overall canon.

My Hero Academia Season 7 premieres soon. Kicking off the Final War Arc, the anime show is introducing Star and Stripes, America’s biggest hero, in the burgeoning battle between Deku and Shigaraki for the fate of mankind.

No pressure! Amid all that, My Hero Academia: You’re Next arrives this summer, the fourth anime movie in the storied franchise. Since we’re getting two big releases in one year, there might be some confusion over the timeline, and one of the stars involved has clarified where You’re Next falls canonically.

“The new movie is set at the same point in the timeline as the anime, just like the previous movies,” Daiki Yamashita, the actor behind Deku, tells CUT Magazine. “So I think it helps to add to the story as you can think, ‘Wow, that was happening then’.”

Although this might suggest You’re Next fits within some form of time jump in Season 7, it’s more likely we’ll see a repeat of previous films and it’ll actually take place after the finale. World Heroes Mission came out during Season 5, but the events are after that finale and before the premiere of Season 6, likewise for Heroes Rising and Season 4 and 5.

What’s potentially more eyebrow-raising for fans is the explicit mention of You’re Next as a canon installment. The canon-status of films from franchises like My Hero Academia have long been the subject of debate, since their events are rarely, if ever, discussed in the show afterward.

Dragon Ball Z’s movies are famously in canon purgatory, and the recent Spy x Family Code: White doesn’t bring any change the forthcoming Season 3 needs to acknowledge. But just because they aren’t overtly referenced, doesn’t mean they aren’t meaningful still.

Where You’re Next lands on this scale will depend on what happens, and the lay of the land in Season 8. Daiki added what he hoped fans would take away from the momentous fourth adventure on the big screen. “You can see the growth of not just Deku, but all of Class 1-A. I think it’s a move that will remind viewers of the value and power of standing together to fight,” he adds.

As much has been a recurring theme of My Hero Academia, with challenges often overcome through Deku and his friends supporting each other in the epic fight against evildoers. They have their work cut out for them in You’re Next, since a mysterious evil All Might shows up.

We’ll find out more this summer. Keep an eye on our upcoming anime list for what else is coming out. Our guides to Demon Slayer Season 4 and Tower of God Season 2 will be useful, too.