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The Naruto series has become one of the global faces of anime, with its undying success and constant popularity persisting despite the franchise itself having ended years ago now. The Naruto manga ended on November 10, 2014, and the anime followed suit on March 23, 2017. With almost a decade having passed since, fans still have not had enough of this amazing story.
In big part, that is thanks to Kishimoto's massive world filled with amazing characters, including exciting heroes and villains alike. Naruto has seen the birth of some of the most iconic villains in anime in general, and the likes of Pain and Madara have become icons all over the world. On July 16, 2026, Masashi Kishimoto made a new appearance, revealing that Spider-Man is a series that greatly impacted how he wrote his villains. Kishimoto expressed how he likes villains with backstories and not ones who are evil just for the sake of it. This can definitely be seen reflected in his work.
Kishimoto Reveals The Main Inspiration Behind His Villains Stems from His Love Of The Spiderman Franchise
Masashi Kishimoto is the legendary Japanese mangaka behind the iconic ninja shonen manga, Naruto. Kishimoto started this masterpiece in Weekly Shounen Jump Issue #43 on September 21, 1999, and the rest is history. With the story blowing up and becoming one of the highest-selling series in the whole world, it is no surprise to know that Kishimoto has become an influential figure worldwide.
Recently, we were surprised to see Kishimoto make a public appearance after years of absence. On Disney+'s new documentary ‘Generations The Evolution Of Spider-Man,’ which was released on July 15, 2026, Kishimoto made a guest appearance and dropped a few comments about the Spider-Man franchise as a whole. This new documentary is 26 minutes long and explores the history of the Spider-Man series in the cinematic universe, going over all his adaptations, from Tobey Maguire to Tom Holland.
It was no secret even before that Kishimoto was greatly inspired by Spider-Man and that he was a huge fan of the franchise. This documentary revealed, via Kishimoto himself, that the villains of Naruto were directly inspired by those of Spider-Man. Kishimoto stated that, in Spider-Man, the villains are not often evil for the sake of it. They don't commit crimes because they were born that way. Instead, they are evil because of their past, and the Naruto manga tackles villains oftentimes similarly.
He spoke about how Spider-Man's villains often have backstories that explain their motives and actions. This all deeply inspired Kishimoto, and that is why we see many Naruto villains with their own tragic backstories to inspire their motives and actions. Naruto's villain backstories are definitely a major part of the story, and they led to the birth of some of the most iconic villains in the series. Had Kishimoto not been a fan of Spider-Man, the villains we have grown to love could have been written drastically differently, with more pure evil antagonists.
Characters Like Pain, Gaara, And Obito Are Directly Inspired by Spider-Man Villains
In his newest interview, Kishimoto revealed how he follows the Spider-Man formula when it comes to creating his villains for Naruto. The Spider-Man franchise itself has many iconic antagonists, some of which include Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom, who have become movie and comic book icons, recognizable to millions of fans. These villains have captivating backstories that elevate their characters from simple antagonists to fan-favorite characters.
The Naruto franchise is the same in that regard, with Kishimoto having created some of the most recognizable villains of all anime. Some of them have become so big that they are extremely recognizable to non-anime fans as well. Even in its beginning phases, Naruto had sensational villains such as the likes of Haku and Zabuza in the Land of Waves arc before the Naruto timeskip. These two characters were defined by their backstory and became a core part of what made fans stick with Naruto.
We also had Gaara, whose backstory definitely gripped attention and shaped him to be the brilliant character that he is today, allowing him to move forward towards redemption after being defeated by Naruto. Pre-time skip Naruto was fantastic, but the second half of the story brought forward more of Kishimoto's masterfully written and captivating villains. One such villain that Kishimoto created is Pain. Pain's arc overall has become a fan favorite in Naruto, and his backstory went on to showcase his life, from an Amegakure orphan to an overpowered ninja, with a fall from grace after seeing his childhood friend Yahiko die. This made him extremely memorable and upped the impact of his whole battle against Naruto. Finally, one of Naruto's final antagonists, Obito Uchiha, is also a tragic character who became a villain because of all the wrongdoings that were done to him. These villains are only the tip of the iceberg for the Naruto franchise, and Kishimoto has definitely created a wide array of iconic antagonists that have defined the shonen anime genre as a whole.
Kishimoto’s First Appearance In Years Ties In Directly With The Upcoming Naruto Live Action Release
Many fans are wondering why Kishimoto has made such a sudden appearance in a Spider-Man documentary, when it is uncommon for him to show his face in public so eagerly. Overall, Kishimoto only has a few public appearances, and this one is definitely one of the biggest to date. First and foremost, Kishimoto made his appearance in the Spider-Man documentary because he himself is a major fan of the franchise, and it has defined how he writes the story as a whole. With that being said, there are other reasons why Kishimoto would make this appearance at this time.
"I’ve seen several of Director Destin's previous works, and it’s rare to find someone who can handle the dramatic parts, directing human emotions, while also shooting action, really cool action, doing both.” — Kishimoto
As many fans know, Naruto has a new project ongoing in Hollywood. This new project is known as Naruto the Movie, and it's a live-action adaptation of the Naruto series. This live-action is currently in pre-production, and producers are looking for the cast of the main trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The director behind this new movie by LionsGate has been revealed to be Destin Daniel Cretton. This director is best known for his work on the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is scheduled to be released very soon, on July 30, 2026. Because of that, there is also a clear connection between the director of the upcoming Spider-Man movie and the new project of Kishimoto's own work.
As the project edges closer, we might see Kishimoto make more public appearances in the future to advertise his upcoming work, which will see his series being brought to life with actual actors after a 10-year hiatus. At the moment, we don't know when Naruto the Movie is coming out, but since the project is still in very early stages, we shouldn't expect it to come out any time soon. It might be released sometime between 2028 and 2029, but that's conjecture. Regardless, we're all excited to see what will come out of this project after the success of the One Piece live-action.
