Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King – Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Plot & More
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Although Black Clover was never the major shonen title of its generation, but this still-ongoing manga series has consistently been very popular and has a solid fandom that keeps demanding more. And while the long-running anime has come to a standstill, we know that Black Clover is getting its first feature anime film, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, which is set to premiere in 2023. In this article, we are going to tell you everything we know about the movie at this moment.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King is going to be the first Black Clover feature anime film, set to be released on March 31, 2023. The film was announced on March 28, 2021, but it was later confirmed that it would not be a continuation of the anime series, which would be coming to a halt for the time being. Yūki Tabata will be supervising the film, which will be directed by Ayataka Tanemura, with the screenplay written by Johnny Otoda and Ai Orii.
The rest of this article is going to bring you all the known and unknown information related to the upcoming Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, the first Black Clover anime film. You’re going to find out about the official release date, whether there is a trailer, what the story will be about, and much more about this highly anticipated anime film.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King release date
In order to tell the whole story of Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King, we have to go back to 2021. It was revealed, in the 17th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, which was released on March 28, 2021, that Black Clover would be getting an anime movie, but no further details had been provided then but were rather announced for a later date. A visual was also released:
The news came as a consolation to fans, who had known for a while that the anime would be ending (or going on an indefinite hiatus) with Episode 170, which aired on March 30, 2021. At that moment, nothing else was known about the movie. In March 2022, it was confirmed that Tabata would be supervising the film, along with the release of a new teaser:
And a poster as well:
This was also a very short announcement, as no further details had been revealed at the time. We had to wait until October 2022 to get some additional information, but with the amount of information released, the wait was totally worth it. First of all, a trailer – which you can check out below – was released, which confirmed the movie’s premiere in Japanese theaters and on Netflix on March 31, 2023.
It is currently unknown whether Netflix will release the movie internationally or just in Japan on that date, but at least you know where you’ll be able to stream it. A new poster was also released:
It was also revealed that the movie will be directed by Ayataka Tanemura, from a screenplay written by Johnny Otoda and Ai Orii, with character designs by Itsuko Takeda, and music by Minako Seki. Tabata, as we have already confirmed, will also supervise the film and provide the original character designs. This is everything we know about the movie at this moment.
It is a bit disappointing that the movie will not continue the anime story, but this seems to have two very positive sides to it. One, we’re going to get a new story supervised by Tanaka (regardless of its canon status) that is going to expand the lore of Black Clover, which is absolutely great, especially if you’re a fan of his storytelling in Black Clover.
Two, with the movie not serving as a sequel to the anime, this probably means that the anime is going to come back from its hiatus at some point in the future because of the likelihood of such a popular series – especially if the movie does well – ending is very slim. Now, let us move on.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King trailer
Anime movie trailers are usually released sometime after the initial announcement and sometime before the initial release, although not much. Since the movie was announced back in 2021 and is premiering in March 2023, a trailer should have been released by now and it was. You can check it out here:
This is, of course, just a teaser trailer but it does reveal a solid amount of information about the movie. We’ve seen a recap of the anime story thus far and a glimpse of what we can expect in the movie. Since the movie is going to have a completely original story as far as we know, we cannot really interpret all the trailer moments, but it does seem epic.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King plot
Since the movie is a completely original story that won’t be adopting any released material, we don’t know much about the plot, save for what has been revealed in the first teaser trailer. Tabata said that he would be doing “a story about a Magic King” and that he would be exploring Julius’ past, but no further details have been revealed at this moment. We are going to give you a brief overview of the whole story so that you can know what to expect, at least on a general level.
The action takes place in a world ruled by magic. The story revolves around two orphans, Asta and Yuno, who were abandoned together in a church and have been inseparable ever since. As children, they swore they would compete with each other to be the next Mage King. However, as the two grew up, major differences between them became apparent. Yuno was a magic genius with superior power and control, while Asta could not use magic at all, which he tried to compensate for through physical training.
When they received their grimoires at age 15, Yuno received a spectacular book with a four-leaf clover – most only get one with a three-leaf clover. Asta, on the other hand, got nothing. The truth about Asta’s ability is revealed when Yuno finds himself in danger. Finally, he receives a grimoire with a five-leaf clover, called the “black clover”. From now on the two go out into the wide world, keeping the same goal in mind.
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King cast
Save for the three confirmed crew members, we know nothing about the movie’s other crew, as well as the cast. We assume that the anime voice actors will return, but we don’t know which characters will be featured in the movie, and we don’t know who is going to voice the new characters that are set to appear.
As for the returning voices, we assume that we’ll be seeing some of these names (bolded names have been confirmed):
Character | Japanese voice actor | English voice actor |
---|---|---|
Asta | Gakuto Kajiwara | Dallas Reid |
Noelle Silva | Kana Yūki | Jill Harris |
Yuno | Nobunaga Shimazaki | Micah Solusod |
Yami Sukehiro | Junichi Suwabe | Christopher R. Sabat |
Mereoleona Vermillion | Junko Minagawa | Monica Rial |
Luck Voltia | Ayumu Murase | Justin Briner |
Julius Novachrono | Toshiyuki Morikawa | Robert McCollum |
Nero | Hitomi Sasaki | Monica Rial |
Charmy Papittoson | Kiyono Yasuno | Sarah Wiedenheft |
Zora Ideale | Hikaru Midorikawa | Johnny Yong Bosch |
Konrad Ledo | Toshihiko Seki | TBA |
The rest of the cast remains a mystery. It is possible that even some of the characters from this list won’t appear, but we assume that most will. We also know that Shanks is going to play a prominent role in the film, but this is everything we know about the movie so far.
Is the Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King Canon?
Since we don’t know much about the film as of yet – it is still only announced with just one trailer – we can’t answer this question with absolute certainty. But, from what we know at this moment and based on the information we have, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King is going to tell an original story that will explore some past events of the main narrative.
When asked about the plot of the movie, Tabata said the following: “This movie is a story about a Magic King that I was wondering whether or not to do in the original story. (…) And I was asked to make it into a movie! [With the film] will be able to enjoy the large scale and flash battles between Asta and his powerful enemies.”
These comments point to the movie being non-canon, which doesn’t make much sense if you ask us. The anime is on an indefinite hiatus and with Tabata supervising the film, just like Oda did with Red and Toriyama with the most recent Dragon Ball movie, it would have made sense for the movie to be canon. It didn’t necessarily have to be a continuation of the anime (although that would’ve been the best option), but Tabata could easily use this opportunity to make the story canon so we hope that he will eventually do that.
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