Warning! Spoilers for My Hero Academia Manga below
It seems that My Hero Academia's Lady Nagant was inspired by Angelina Jolie's character "Fox" from the movie Wanted. As revealed in Weekly Shonen Jump's author's comments, creator Kohei Horikoshi hinted at the inspiration behind the assassin. Leaving many fans more obsessed with the formally renowned hero's past and quirk abilities.
My Hero Academia Volume 32 cover features Lady Nagant, an ex hero assassin contracted by All For One to capture Deku. Volume 32 is set to release in Japan on October 4th, 2021 and the cover quickly glimpses at the deadly assassins' quirk, from her right arm resembling a gun barrel to her two-toned purple/pink hair. The character is striking a fierce pose while a yellow curved bullet outline separates the young hero, Deku from the nightly assassin on the cover. Lady Nagant's combat skills stem from her past as an assassin hired and trained by the Hero Public Safety Commission (the same organization that trained Hawks). However, after witnessing the HPSC's true intentions for maintaining peace, Lady Nagant began to question her purpose as a vigilante hero. She was then sent to Tartarus prison after assassinating the head of the HPSC and later freed with other resident villains Muscular, Stain, Overhaul, and All For One by Shigaraki.
In Weekly Shonen Jump #24's author comments, Kohei Horikoshi gave a fun quote revealing the inspiration behind Lady Nagant and her quirk ability "Rifle". The mangaka exclaimed that "I learned you could bend bullets from the movie Wanted. Thank you, Angie!", which had fans excited to spot the comparisons between Lady Nagant and Fox from the 2008 film Wanted. Much like Lady Nagant's profession, Fox is also an assassin with special abilities much similar to a quirk.
Lady Nagant's quirk "Rifle" works as her right arm can turn into a sniper rifle and she's able to create bullets of any size by rubbing together pieces of her hair. She can snipe targets 3 kilometers out (roughly over a mile) and with the quirk "Air Walk" gifted to her by All For One, she's able to enhance her mobility by moving freely in the sky. Fox is also an assassin with rare abilities that allow her to curve or bend bullets at will. She's a master weapons specialist and can increase her heart rate granting her superhuman speed that plays an important role in her ability to curve bullets. Just like Lady Nagant's custom bullets, Fox also uses specially engraved bullets that are lethal to targets and untraceable. Although Lady Nagant and Fox are assassins they aren't inherently bad people.
Lady Nagant is still originally a hero and that showed in her escape from Tartarus when she noticed Overhaul needed help escaping from his cell. She could have left the previous head Shie Hassaikai alone but her hero instincts took over and she chose to stay with him when he needed help the most. Angelina Jolie's character Fox was never a hero and betrayed Wesley but still chose to help him after finding out the truth behind the assassin group's leader. Kohei Horikoshi's love for western comics is clear in My Hero Academia but this latest movie reference to the film Wanted left fans excited for future western influences in the popular manga.
Source: myheroacademia , WSJ manga