It’s been a bitter-sweet week for Hunter x Hunter fans. The first ever HxH movie has been announced, and was shortly followed by news of Yoshihiro Togashi taking another hiatus from drawing the manga.

Today we focus on the upcoming movie. Its plot, production studio and release date are all unknown at this point. However, Mainichi Shimbun’s website report that the movie will have an entirely original plot, which opens the door for many interesting possibilities. Although movies in the shounen genre are usually big hollow fillers, HxH is different than most other shounen title in that a huge chunk of it was never explored in the anime and was only hinted at in the manga. Below are four possible scenarios for the movie that might make it canon material despite featuring stories not adapted directly from the manga. Do note that this post assumes you’ve watched the old 90s anime or read the manga. There will be spoilers.

My Spider Senses are Tingling

Oh Kurapika, how the mighty have fallen. You stole the show during the York Shin arc, and blended well in one of the series’ darkest of hours. For a time it seemed like Hunter x Hunter will be filled with blood, revenge and eyeballs. But then, after encountering the Spiders’ leader Chrollo, Kurapika massacre comes to an early end. In the wink of an eye Hunter x Hunter leaves Kurapika behind and moves to focus on Gon and Killua’s adventures, never to show Kurapika again. That is, until the picture above appeared in the manga last week. More than a year (in story time) has passes since Kurapika was phased out from the main HxH storyline. Could this new upcoming movie be a continuation of his revenge against the spiders? Or maybe a side-story adventure explaining how did so many Kurta clan eyeballs have come to his possession? It certainly seems like a dark route worth exploring.

The Magician and the Tent

One of HxH’s most nefarious and beloved characters is the murderous magician Hisoka. Hisoka’s personality is as twisted as they come – a pedophile, a narcissist and a skilled schemer, all in one. But how did Hisoka come to possess such a strange personality? People sure don’t turn out that way in a natural manner. Wouldn’t you love to see a movie specifically dedicated to Hisoka’s youth? Perhaps one that culminates in him murdering one of the spiders and joining their ranks?

The Adventures of the Worst Father Ever

Ging is one of HxH’s less explored characters. The only things we know for sure about him is that he’s Gon’s father, that he’s a powerful hunter and that he failed at the mission he set forth to accomplish when he left Wail island so many years ago. If you’ve read the manga you also might know by now that he’s the worst father ever. But this doesn’t change the fact that his history is foggy and mysterious. How did he become a hunter at such a young age? Why the heck did he create Greed Island? And how come he ended up leaving his son right after his wife (Gon’s mother) had died?
These are all intriguing questions, but even if you aren’t interested in Ging as a person surely you’re interested in seeing just what Nen powers he uses? Or maybe how he met and trained Kaito? A voyage down memory lane to his early life might shed light on these unknown parts of the HxH history.

Journey to the East

After being cursed by Kurapika’s Judgment Chain, the Phantom Troupes (also known as the Spiders) leader Chrollo is left alone, never the be mentioned again. Per the prophecy he was given Chrollo travels to the east in search of a way to remove the curse. It is later hinted that he discovers Greed Island, which is indeed located to the east, and enlist Hisoka to help him find a Nen remover. Hisoka finds a Nen remover…and then things starts to get strange. Nor the anime nor the manga show what happens after that. Chrollo is thoroughly forgotten by both Hisoka and the spiders. In fact, some of the spiders make an appearance during the Ant arc later on, and they don’t seem to miss of care about their long-gone leader. Could the new movie shed light on Chrollo’s destiny? Will he be cured of his curse only to enroll in a battle to the death with Hisoka? Or will Kurapika pop up for a final confrontation with this darkly clad mass murderer?

Four possibilities, all of them worth exploring in this upcoming movie. What do you expect from the movie? Do you have your own original ideas about the movie’s plot? Do you have a preferred and yet unexplored character you’d like to see featured in it?