Jacob Batalon shed some light on what Brand New Day director Destin Daniel Cretton likes most about Naruto, giving fans a tentative idea of the direction his live-action adaptation of the iconic anime series might take.
Jacob Batalon, who plays Peter Parker’s bestie Ned Leeds in the Tom Holland films, sat down for an episode of The Anime Effect podcast with Crunchyroll on September 19 to chat about all things anime.
Naturally, the topic of Destin Daniel Cretton’s live-action Naruto movie came up, prompting the hosts to quiz him about what the Brand New Day director likes best about the classic anime.
Speaking from his own perspective, Batalon said that he feels like Cretton is drawn to the origin story of Team 7 — the main group of characters in the original Naruto series, initially made up of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and its leader, Kakashi.
“I think he likes the aspect of Team 7 and their coming-up story,” he explained. “I think that’s really cool. I think for a lot of storytelling in movies, when you’re trying to move from a specific IP to movies meant for everyone, you have to start somewhere where everyone kind of understands where they’re coming from. I think a lot of origin story-type things are really important when you’re trying to tell a story that not everyone is accustomed to.
“I think that could be a main thing. But also, he’s been doing this for a long time. I have no idea what he’s doing now. He could’ve completely changed it all and probably made Orochimaru the main character. I don’t know. He could’ve done something crazy,” he laughed.
While Batalon made it clear that he isn’t certain how Cretton’s movie will actually pan out, it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw him adapt Team 7’s come-up journey; centering on the main group of characters and following their storyline would make sense, especially since certain actors are already reportedly in talks to take on the roles of some of Team 7’s members.
For instance, Charles Melton was reported to be in final negotiations to play Kakashi in August, choosing to move away from X-Men’s Beast in Marvel Studios’ upcoming reboot film.
The search for Naruto is still underway, though. An open casting call was put out this summer, reportedly looking for young male actors between 16 and 20 years old who are “athletic, energetic, expressive” and speak fluent English.
Masashi Kishimoto, the mangaka who created Naruto, has stated that he is extremely excited about the movie, writing a statement on the series’ official website saying he “cannot believe” his manga is being adapted into a major Hollywood film.
“Right now, miracles are happening to me, one after another. My work, Naruto, is truly, truly becoming a Hollywood movie! And an even greater miracle is that the film will be directed by the one and only Destin Daniel Cretton. I still cannot believe it!” he said.
Image Credits: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images / Masashi Kishimoto / Shueisha
Virginia Glaze
News Editor
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
