Anime Fans Dodged A Bullet That Would’ve Made This Live-Action Adaptation Bomb Even Worse (2024)

Knights of the Zodiac definitely wasn’t a critical success, but at least the adaptation decided to spare certain characters from the damage. The film, based on the hugely popular anime of the same name, was one of Sony Pictures’ biggest flops in 2023. Despite high expectations and a promising cast, the story ultimately failed to deliver what the fans of the original series were hoping for. However, there were a few glaring omissions from the cast of Knights of the Zodiac that meant certain characters escaped unharmed.

Although fans might have been hoping that Knights of the Zodiac would kickstart a live-action series, any hopes for the future of this franchise were seemingly dead on arrival. It looks very unlikely that a Knights of the Zodiac sequel will ever happen, which means that some characters may have avoided the live-action treatment altogether. While this is a shame, because these characters are filled with potential, perhaps remaining in their animated form is best for everyone.

Knights Of The Zodiac Did Not Include The Other Bronze Saints

Many Characters Were Missing From The Film Entirely

The Bronze Saints might be the lowest-ranking saints in Athena’s army, but they’re among the most interesting characters in the whole show. They don’t have complete mastery over the Cosmo essence, meaning their powers aren’t as strong as the characters that Knights of the Zodiac decided to focus on, but their stories are just as interesting; perhaps even more so because they don’t have magic to rely on. But since the film decided to focus more closely on the anime’s protagonists, there simply wasn’t enough room to include these characters too.

However, excluding the Bronze Saints does make the scale of the story feel much lower. Of the 88 Saints, 48 of these are Bronze Saints - constituting a huge majority. Without these characters, the story misses the enormous scope of these armies that’s necessary to really feel the stakes. This is one of the many changes Knights of the Zodiac makes that ultimately deterred fans from the movie. There’s so much backstory and character depth to this world that didn’t come across in the runtime that was allowed.

Knights Of The Zodiac Shouldn’t Have Skipped The Bronze Saints, But I’m Glad It Did

The Other Bronze Saints Escaped Ikku's Fate

Skipping over the Bronze Saints was a bad idea, but that doesn’t mean that their inclusion would’ve made the film any better. It seems like Knights of the Zodiac was doomed to fail anyway, so it was for the best that the Bronze Saints weren’t ruined in the process. The Bronze Saints encompass some of the anime’s most beloved characters - Andromeda Shun, Dragon Shiryu, Pegasus Koga - and keeping them away from this project means that audiences’ perception of them hasn’t been ruined.

While some traces of the Bronze Saints were inevitable, the Knights of the Zodiac film ultimately did everything possible to avoid writing them into the story. The character of Ikku/Nero was completely detached from the Bronze Saints in the live-action adaptation, removing everything that makes his character interesting and transforming him into a generic henchman instead. This is the fate that might have been awaiting the other Bronze Saints if they had been adapted into the story.

Knights of the Zodiac

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Drama

Director

Tomasz Baginski

Release Date

May 12, 2023

Distributor(s)

Toei Company , Sony

Writers

Josh Campbell , Matt Stuecken , Kiel Murray

Cast

Famke Janssen , Madison Iseman , Sean Bean , Mark Dacascos , Nick Stahl , Diego Tinoco , Caitlin Hutson , Mackenyu

Runtime

112 Minutes