Michael B. Jordan Jokes He Might “Quit It All” To Make Anime Full-Time
Hollywood A-listers rarely admit to daydreaming about walking away from blockbuster stardom, but Michael B. Jordan’s latest interview suggests his heart might genuinely be pulling him in a very different creative direction. Fresh off winning his first Oscar and reflecting on just how relentless his schedule has been, Jordan is opening up about a passion that’s clearly been simmering for years.
That passion is anime, and it’s not exactly a new development for the actor. Jordan has spoken publicly for years about his deep connection to Japanese animation, previously naming Studio Ghibli’s ‘Princess Mononoke’ as his all-time favorite film and crediting shows like ‘My Hero Academia,’ ‘Naruto,’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z’ as genuine creative influences on his approach to filmmaking, including specific fight choreography in his own ‘Creed III.’
That lifelong fandom took a notably more serious turn during his cover interview with Vogue for the magazine’s October 2026 issue. According to Female First’s coverage of the interview, Jordan revealed he has some anime projects currently in early development, and while discussing his future plans, he “half joked” about abandoning traditional movie stardom entirely in favor of the medium. “I might just quit it all and make anime the rest of my life,” he said.
Jordan’s connection to anime runs deeper than casual fandom at this point. He’s directly credited the genre with influencing action sequences in ‘Creed III,’ explaining in a separate conversation with fellow actors Austin Butler and Paul Mescal that he’s incorporated specific fight moments and emotional beats he’s seen throughout anime into his own directorial work. He’s also spoken about crying during an emotional ‘My Hero Academia’ moment involving the character Bakugo, describing the scene’s payoff as genuinely beautiful.
That enthusiasm has already translated into concrete projects beyond just influence and inspiration. Jordan previously announced a Creed-branded anime short produced in collaboration with TMS Entertainment, which played in Japanese theaters following screenings of ‘Creed III’ there. The character Erik Killmonger, whom Jordan played in ‘Black Panther,’ was reportedly even styled visually after Dragon Ball Z’s Vegeta, another small but telling sign of how thoroughly anime has threaded through his career.
Michael B. Jordan is busier than ever—finishing his reimagination of “The Thomas Crown Affair,” for which he is doing triple duty as actor, producer, and director; shooting a reboot of “Miami Vice” costarring Austin Butler; and producing “Delphi,” a “Creed” franchise spin-off set in a boxing gym. Then what? “That’s probably when I’m going to do more reflecting and processing of all of this,” he says, “Because honestly, it’s been—I’ve been moving.” https://t.co/mdotU1aynl
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) September 16, 2026
The anime remark arrives within a larger context of Jordan publicly reflecting on burnout and the toll of constant work. In the same Vogue profile, he revealed plans to take an extended break starting next spring, once he wraps promotion for his upcoming ‘Thomas Crown Affair’ remake, admitting he needs space to properly process everything he’s accomplished after a relentless stretch of nonstop projects.
Given that context, his anime comment reads less like a passing joke about hobbies and more like a genuine signal of where his creative interests might eventually lead once he steps back from the traditional Hollywood grind. Between his history of tangible anime collaborations and his openly stated fatigue with the demands of blockbuster stardom, Jordan’s half-serious pivot fantasy carries more weight than it might have coming from someone without his established track record in the space.
Michael B. Jordan photographed by Luis Alberto Rodriguez for Vogue https://t.co/FIbvpzaw2W
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 16, 2026
Whether “quitting it all” for anime ever becomes anything more than a Vogue soundbite remains to be seen, but given how consistently Jordan has folded his passion for the medium into his actual professional output over the years, fans have plenty of reason to take the comment seriously rather than dismiss it as idle celebrity chatter.
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