Summary

• My Hero Academia movies fit into the anime's timeline between major arcs to expand the chronology for fans to enjoy.
• The first movie, Two Heroes, is set early in the series, when class 1-A still relied heavily on pro heroes like All Might for help.
• The next two movies were set much later and showed Deku and his classmates saving the day all on their own.

Fans of the My Hero Academia franchise have plenty to look forward to this year. First, fans will be treated to Season 7 of My Hero Academia starting on May 4th, and then later in 2024, fans will also get to see the fourth tie-in movie, titled You're Next. That movie will feature a fanatical All Might follower who will embrace the "evil twin" trope. Until that movie releases, fans are encouraged to look back at the three current My Hero Academia movies and see where they fit into the chronology.

The three current My Hero Academia movies are all canon and thus fit into the anime's timeline in specific places. The movies tend to take place between major arcs of the anime, meaning they are injected into the timeline as movie-length arcs to expand the chronology. Fans want to know the placement of these movies so they can watch the entire My Hero Academia franchise in proper order, and knowing the placement of these movies also helps fans see how the character arcs and narrative themes of the anime and movies tie together.

My Hero Academia: Two Heroes Is an Adventure to I-Island

MHA: Two Heroes Was Released August 3, 2018

The first My Hero Academia movie is set right after the final exams story arc in the anime's second season, but before the forest training camp arc that launches Season 3. That means My Hero Academia: Two Heroes is sandwiched neatly between the anime's second and third seasons. Episode-wise, this means Two Heroes is nestled between Episode 38, " Encounter," and Episode 39, "Game Start."

For context, the last few episodes of Season 2 showed the students of class 1-A fighting their own teachers in 2 vs 1 battles, with Deku and Bakugo fighting together against the symbol of peace himself, All Might. This took place after the battle against Stain the hero killer and UA's sports festival story arc. Season 3, meanwhile, launched the forest training camp arc where classes 1-A and 1-B trained with the Wild, Wild Pussycats until the League attacked and kidnapped Bakugo.

This means that as of My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, class 1-A's members have already gotten stronger from their internships, the sports festival, and the exam battles against their teachers, which is the bare minimum to get Deku and his classmates ready to fight bonafide villains in movies like Two Heroes. My Hero Academia: Two Heroes' placement in the chronology also means that as of this movie, All Might is still fighting as the current #1 pro hero and the symbol of peace, since his swan song battle against All For One doesn't take place until later in Season 3.

Thus, All Might is the real best hope of I-Island in the Two Heroes movie, not just Deku himself. At that point in My Hero Academia's story, Deku may have had the One For All Quirk, but he still relied on All Might to protect him, proving that Deku still had a long way to go in his own heroics career. He only defeated the villain Wolfram because All Might was there. In the movie Two Heroes, the adventure is a fairly straightforward one, with several students in class 1-A visiting the high-tech I-Island with All Might to meet new pro heroes and see what technological marvels the pro hero industry has to offer.

That was the perfect context to introduce the charming side character Melissa Shield, a Quirkless girl who decided to save the world indirectly by inventing new items for pro heroes to use. That made Melissa like Mei Hatsume without the benefit of the Zoom Quirk, which actually made Melissa even more impressive. She and her father David were also huge admirers of All Might, which helped explain why the Shields and Deku got along so well right after they met.

The Two Heroes movie made Deku and All Might the two standout stars, hence the movie's name, and the movie only made a token effort to glorify the rest of class 1-A, which held the movie back somewhat. Then again, this movie's early placement in the chronology meant that many of Deku's classmates simply hadn't had a chance yet to develop into compelling heroes. Even Deku's good friend Ochaco Uraraka was only taking her first few steps toward greatness, while characters like Kyoka Jiro and Tenya Iida really were the background extras Bakugo mocked them for being. Fortunately, class 1-A's roster would feel more substantial in the next movie.

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Pits Class 1-A Against Nine

MHA: Heroes Rising Was Released December 20, 2019

The second My Hero Academia movie is set between the My Villain Academia flashback arc and the start of the heroes vs villains war arc that launched in Season 6 of My Hero Academia. That means the second movie, Heroes Rising, is placed roughly between Seasons 5 and 6 of the anime, making it a fine side adventure to watch before the final war against the Paranormal Liberation Front begins. Episode-wise, this movie is placed between Episode 111, "Tenko Shimura: Origin" and Episode 112, "Tomura Shigaraki: Origin."

Fans should note that Episodes 111 and 112 are part of a flashback arc that took place a few months before all other events found in Season 5. Thus, Heroes Rising is nestled between the end of Tomura's and Re-Destro's battle and the present day, where Hawks is an undercover member of the Paranormal Liberation Front. For context, the 'My Villain Academia' flashback arc showed the next symbol of evil, Tomura Shigaraki, gathering his remaining allies to train with Gigantomachia and prove themselves worthy to the supervillain All For One and Dr. Garaki.

Tomura was eager to obtain the All For One Quirk to boost his power, but only after he could demonstrate his worthiness. This means that Heroes Rising, with its own villain wielding All For One, thematically ties to Tomura Shigaraki's character arc. The villain Nine was an experimental wielder of the AFO Quirk, but at the end of Heroes Rising, Tomura appeared and finished off Nine, effectively replacing him as the real inheritor of All For One.

This entire phase of the chronology is about the struggle between Re-Destro, Tomura, and Nine to see who will become the next great supervillain after the fall of All For One. In the movie Heroes Rising, all 20 students of class 1-A visted the peaceful Nabu Island to get hands-on experience operating as pro heroes, and they enjoyed meeting and helping the gateful locals. Then, Nine and his allies burst onto the scene, with Nine seeking a cell regeneration Quirk that would allow him to heal his strained body while using All For One.

It fell to Deku and his classmates to fight back and protect the Shimano family as Nine tried steal their cell regeneration Quirks. In that movie, all of class 1-A came together to combine their many Quirks in spectacular ways, allowing more than just two or three student heroes to shine. Heroes Rising also showed Katsuki Bakugo using One For All alongside Deku.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission is a Fight For Humanity's Future

MHA: World Heroes Mission Was Released August 6, 2021