Most of the time, My Hero Academia‘s references to Western superhero comics don’t greatly affect overall enjoyment of the series, but one great joke in the manga is made infinitely better by knowing about the hero it is ultimately referencing. While the reference for the joke isn’t the most obvious at first glance, fans of the character will immediately know what the joke is referring to. It is yet another sign of mangaka Kohei Horikoshi’s deep love for Western Superhero comics.
My Hero Academia features a variety of homages to various Marvel and DC Comics characters. Some of these references are incredibly 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 can be a bit harder to notice, such as All Might’s former sidekick Nighteye being analogous to Batman, despite having superpowers. This then also makes his protégé Mirio analogous to Nightwing, Batman’s former partner. It is this comparison that improves one of the series’ best jokes.
My Hero Academia Jokes About Its Nightwing’s Butt As Well
In the Final War arc, a group of heroes must desperately fight to stall Shigaraki before Deku can arrive to take him down. Out of options and not knowing what to do, Mirio shockingly moons Shigaraki, which stuns 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 regard Nightwing as having one of the best butts in all of superhero comics, so the fact that a character inspired by him saved the day with his similarly bountiful behind is an act of comedic perfection.
Beyond making this joke funnier, the comparison also reveals some deeper insights into Mirio and why he may have resorted to mooning Shigaraki in that moment. Although he trained under one of the darkest superheroes out there, Nightwing is generally a much more positive and upbeat character than his mentor, just like Mirio is in My Hero Academia. Nightwing is also known for his keen wit even in combat. These two factors combined make it only natural that Mirio would attempt to use a silly joke in an actual high stakes fight against Shigaraki, as it’s something that Nightwing would potentially do as well.
Mirio’s actions made sense for his character in that moment so it isn’t entirely necessary for fans to know the Nightwing reference to enjoy the joke. But knowing this joke definitely elevates this moment even more, causing the meme of Nightwing’s butt to transcend cultural barriers and franchises. Hopefully My Hero Academia uses its other references to similar effect during the rest of its Final War arc to provide even more depth to its homages.
