A Hot Wheels Manga Is In The Works

We know there are a few of you out there who can partially blame manga for a love of cars. For us, Initial D was a formative part of our love of all things four-wheels – but some of you may point towards its modern sequel, MF Ghost, or even the often-overlooked Wangan Midnight.

Then, of course, there’s Hot Wheels – we don’t need to provide any additional context. What then, if you bring the two together? Well, we’ll find out in 2026.

There’s a manga series in the work which will bring Hot Wheels to paper, with American-based Tokyopop at the helm. Don’t expect it to follow those other series we’ve mentioned too closely as this one is taking on a ‘Western-style’ although we’d hope some inspiration from the Japanese works will be leveraged.

Then again, it’s not really going to be aimed at ourselves or you reading this, in all likelihood. Mattel says this new series, along with a Barbie manga in case that’s also your thing, will be aimed at 8-12-year-olds. Remember what we said about formative? Maybe the next generation of petrolheads might have this to point toward.

Mattel’s Global Head of Publishing, Ryan Ferguson, said: “Hot Wheels and Barbie have long been symbols of storytelling, creativity and inspiration, engaging audiences across generations,”

“We are thrilled to partner with Tokyopop and expand these iconic franchises through captivating stories, bringing new adventures to fans.”

It’s yet a further diversification of Hot Wheels, as we also await more info on a live-action film. We don’t know a great deal about that project at the moment, other than JJ Abrams is directing it.