Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen! A live-action adaptation of the popular Death Note anime is coming! Oh boy, I am so excited for this Death Note movie!

In 2016 it was announced that Netflix would be producing a live-action adaptation of the popular anime and manga series. Since that announcement, things have been fairly quiet. Now, however, news has broken that the project’s producer will also star in the film.

Masi Oka, best known for his stellar role as Hiro Nakamura on Heroes, officially has a dual part in the project. Oka’s role as producer remains intact, but he is now also a part of the cast. Although Oka’s role has yet to be defined, many fans have assumed that he will play the part of the dorky Matsuda.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Oka dropped a few tidbits about his involvement in Death Note. It was during the interview that he revealed he would act, as well as produce the film.

“Whatever is ahead, I’m very fortunate to be able to do things also behind-the-scenes, creating some TV shows and also producing a lot of movies”, he said. “I recently finished producing Death Note for Netflix, which I have a part in as well”.

Oka joins the likes of Willem Dafoe, who will be voicing the death god Ryuk, as well as Nat Wolff (Paper Towns) as Light, Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers) as Misa, Keith Stanfield (Atlanta) as L, and Paul Nakauchi (The Legend of Korra) in the role of Watari. Adam Wingard is directing the adaptation.

Death Note is about a student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone. He begins a crusade against evil, and ends up wanting to rule the world as a benevolent human “god”. A reclusive detective known as L begins to track the young man down. This starts a deadly game of cat and mouse as the detective attempts to end his reign of terror once and for all.

We expect Death Note to release on Netflix sometime in 2017.

[Sources: Anime News Network, Comicbook, Entertainment Weekly, Rocket News]

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Junior Editor at Vamers. From Superman to Ironman; Bill Rizer to Sam Fisher and everything in-between, Edward loves it all. He is a Bachelor of Arts student and English Major specialising in Language and Literature. He is an avid writer and casual social networker with a flare for all things tech related.