Sydney Sweeney ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ Film Gets Plot Update – And Reactions Will Separate Real Anime Fans From Dishonest Grifters
As pre-production continues on Legendary’s live-action, Sydney Sweeney-starring Mobile Suit Gundam film, a new report has provided the first supposed details as to its actual plot – and hilariously enough, reactions to this information will prove who does and decidedly does not know what they’re talking about when it comes to the iconic mecha anime.
First announced in 2018 and originally set to be directed by Kong: Skull Island Jordan Vogt-Roberts but now under the watch of Jim Mickle, the man behind Netflix’s live-action adaptation of DC/Vertigo’s Sweet Tooth, Hollywood’s take on Yoshiyuki Tomino’s seminal franchise received its latest update on November 21st courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Borys Kit.
Relaying information provided to him by insider sources, Kit broke the news that not only has Legendary engaged in casting discussions with actor Noah Centino, who played Atom Smasher in Black Adam and will soon appear in the live-action Street Fighter movie as Ken Masters, but also that the film’s plot sees Sweeney, who “sources say is very much involved in the casting of those opposite her”, and her yet-to-be-cast male as a pair of young lovers “in the vein of Romeo & Juliet, on opposite sides of a war between planets who find a connection.”
When asked about these potential leaks, Legendary declined to comment.
Now, here’s where things get fun.
Given that the core Gundam audience has historically been and continues to be primarily male (though recent years have seen the franchise receiving an uptick in female fans thanks to both Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury and Mobile Suit Gundam GquuuuuuX), it is almost a guarantee that social media will soon erupt in a rash wave of knee-jerk reactions, especially from those who view themselves as stalwart soldiers in the ongoing culture war, decrying the film as ‘woke’ and condemning Hollywood for yet again using a beloved IP as a skinsuit for their own original stories.
But while Hollywood’s track record with live-action anime adaptations does suggest that Legendary’s Mobile Suit Gundam will more than likely be a colony-drop level disaster, and a dedicated love story is admittedly not what most fans likely wanted or expected from the franchise’s Hollywood debut, anyone who even suggests that the mecha franchise would never tell a Romeo & Juliet style romance story is basically throwing up a giant flag that reads ‘I have no idea what I’m talking about’.
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Though one could easily argue that romance has in fact been a central tenet of every Gundam outing, from Char and Lalah in the original 0079 series to the love triangle between Machu, Nyann, and Shuji in GquuuuuuX, the entire matter can be more succinctly put to bed by pointing to 1996’s The 08th MS Team.
Taking place in the mainline Universal Century timeline amidst the One Year War, the 12-episode OVA tells the tale of Shiro Amada, an Earth Federation pilot who falls in love with enemy Zeon fighter Aina Sahalin after rescuing her from dying in the vacuum of space following a battlefield defeat.
But with their love liable to be considered an act of treason by both sides, the pair soon find themselves putting everything on the line, including the potential for a major Earth Federation victory and the outright survival of Aina’s Zeon unit, in an attept to escape the war and finally be together.
Now if that doesn’t sound like a near-textbook Romeo & Juliet tale, one would be hard pressed to find one that does.
Ultimately, all of this is not to tell you, dear reader, that you should like the idea of a live-action Gundam film, or even be open to Hollywood getting their hands on it all together; your opinion is your opinion!
Further, this is no slight to those fans who may have never watched The 08th MS Team; maybe it’s not up your alley, maybe you just haven’t gotten to it yet, but as long as you’re not claiming authority on the matter, no one could blame you for not being aware of the narrative depths the franchise ultimately goes to.
Rather, it’s to provide a reminder that one should always make sure that the pundits, talking heads, and even reporters you go to for your news – myself included! – are not only basing their takes on material reality rather than reactionary vibes, but also earnestly engaging, researching, and knowing the topics they speak on.
