Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has been such a resounding, multinational success that it has many of its contemporaries eyeing theatrical releases, hoping to get a slice of that pie. One such anime franchise currently attempting to take Demon Slayer’s crown is Solo Leveling, which, according to recent reports, already has a film in the works.
Admittedly, at the moment, if there’s any anime franchise that can give Demon Slayer a run for its money in terms of mainstream popularity, it has to be Solo Leveling. The series already had a well-established fan base across the world, with A-1 Pictures’ anime adaptation only skyrocketing its popularity. However, Solo Leveling’s upcoming movie may be destined for failure.
Solo Leveling’s Upcoming Movie Needs to Overcome A Major Hurdle
Solo-Leveling-Jinwoo-Crying
Instead of a third TV season, Solo Leveling’s next installment is reportedly making its way to theaters, and on paper, this sounds like a massive success waiting to happen. Solo Leveling has the mainstream appeal, the kind of animation and fights that were made for the big screen, and enough influence to draw hordes of viewers to theaters.
However, the issue at hand is the timing. Solo Leveling could not have picked a worse time to aim for a Demon Slayer-level theatrical release, as the source material would be actively working against the series’ producers. To put it simply, the upcoming story arcs in Solo Leveling, following the Recruitment Arc where season 2 left off, are incredibly dull.
To put it simply, the upcoming story arcs in Solo Leveling, following the Recruitment Arc where season 2 left off, are incredibly dull.
The Ahjin Guild Arc, the Japan Crisis Arc, and the International Conference Arc are all rather dull in comparison to the preceding Jeju Arc and the Monarch War Arc that follows. It’s impossible for the upcoming film to adapt everything up until the Monarch War, as there’s quite simply too much content to adapt into a feature film.
Solo Leveling’s Film Could Focus On the Double Dungeon Arc, But There’s A Catch
Custom Image by Diana Acuña
This only leaves the Double Dungeon Arc, which is the only real highlight up until the Monarch War. Given how the Double Dungeon Arc sees Jinwoo go back to the beginning, where his journey began, and confront the origin of his deepest fears, this arc would admittedly make for a really good, cathartic movie.
However, in order to get there, Solo Leveling’s upcoming film would first have to make its way through the Ahjin Guild Arc, which is 12 chapters long in the manhwa. Seeing as the anime adapts about three chapters of the manhwa per twenty-minute episode, the Ahjin Guild Arc alone would take up nearly the entire run-time of the film.
In contrast, the Double Dungeon Arc spans only 9 chapters, which by itself may not be enough for a feature-length film without dragging down the pacing. Combining the two arcs is still possible, but unless this movie’s going to be over two hours long, a lot of the Ahjin Guild Arc will simply have to be cut out.
Solo Leveling Missed the Opportunity To Make Its Best Arc Into a Movie
Solo Leveling Jeju Island Arc anime
All this talk of a movie is only a reminder that Solo Leveling’s anime missed out on its biggest opportunity for a massive theatrical success. Ever since season 1 aired, fans who knew what was coming were desperately hoping that the Jeju Island Arc would be adapted into a movie instead.
The Jeju Arc has always been Solo Leveling’s best story arc and would have likely done very well in theaters, if not leagues better than Solo Leveling: ReAwakening. Unfortunately, however, as we all know, Solo Leveling stuck to the episodic format for season 2 and the Jeju Arc.
It was undoubtedly quite a treat to behold, with season 2 as a whole projecting Solo Leveling’s anime into even greater popularity, and now with talks of a movie finally afoot, fans can only reminisce about what could have been.
All that said, with an official announcement yet to be made regarding the film, it is admittedly a little early to judge what path Solo Leveling’s upcoming movie will end up going down, but fans can only hope for the best.
Release Date
2024 – 2025-00-00
Network
Tokyo MX, Gunma TV, BS11, Tochigi TV
Directors
Tatsuya Sasaki, Toru Hamasaki
Writers
Shigeru Murakoshi, Shingo Irie, Fuka Ishii
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Genta Nakamura
Yoo Jin-ho
