Most of the time, My Hero AcademyThe references to Western superhero comics don’t have much to do with the overall enjoyment of the series, but a great joke in the manga is made infinitely better by knowing the hero it’s ultimately playing at. mention. While the content of the joke isn’t the clearest at first glance, fans of the character will immediately know what the joke is referring to. It’s another sign of mangaka Kohei Horikoshi’s deep love for Western Superhero comics.
My Hero Academia features many homages to various Marvel and DC Comics characters. Some of these references are extremely blatant like Class 1-A’s Sero being a less flawed version of Spider-Man or All Might being the equivalent of My Hero Academia’s Superman. However, some may be a little harder to notice, such as Nighteye, All Might’s former sidekick, who is similar to Batman, albeit with superpowers. This also makes his protégé Mirio similar to Nightwing, Batman’s old partner. It’s this comparison that improves one of the series’ best jokes.
My Hero Academia also jokes about Nightwing’s butt
In the Final War arc, a group of heroes must fight hard to stop Shigaraki before Deku can come and take him down. With no other options and not knowing what to do, Mirio shockingly attacks Shigaraki, stunning the supervillain long enough for Deku to finally arrive. This joke is already funny on the surface, but the Nightwing reference elevates it even further. Many fans consider Nightwing to have one of the best butts in all of superhero comics, so it makes sense that a character inspired by him saves the world with his similarly ample butt. he is a perfect comedic act.
In addition to making this joke funnier, the comparison reveals some deeper insights into Mirio and why he might have resorted to mocking Shigaraki at the time. Despite training under one of the darkest superheroes, Nightwing is generally a much more positive and optimistic character than his mentor, much like Mirio in My Hero Academia. Nightwing is also known for his sharp intelligence even in combat. These two factors combined make it natural for Mirio to attempt to use a silly joke in a really dangerous fight against Shigaraki, since that’s also what Nightwing is likely to do. .
Mirio’s actions made sense to his character in that moment so it’s not entirely necessary for fans to know the Nightwing reference to enjoy the joke. But knowing this joke is sure to heighten the moment even more, making the Nightwing ass meme cross cultural and franchise barriers. Hope My Hero Academy uses its other references to similar effect in the rest of the Final War arc to give even more depth to its homage.
