--- title: 'Charles Melton Joins Destin Daniel Cretton’s Naruto as Kakashi Hatake' type: 'blog post' section: 'Away From Set' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'The May December and Beef actor has been cast in Lionsgate’s live-action Naruto movie, with Destin Daniel Cretton set to write and direct. The lead trio is still being searched for, which puts Melton’s Kakashi in the room before Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have faces.' author: 'Marcus Reid' published: '2026-08-22' updated: '2026-08-22' about_people: - 'Charles Melton' tags: - 'Charles Melton Naruto casting' - 'Charles Melton Kakashi Hatake live action' - 'Destin Daniel Cretton Naruto movie' - 'live action Naruto movie cast' - 'Naruto movie 2028 Lionsgate' - 'Charles Melton X-Men rumors' sources: - 'https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/charles-melton-officially-eyes-major-role-in-mcu-directors-new-franchise-movie/ar-AA2aCl4J' - 'https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/naruto-spider-man-director-live-220840951.html' - 'https://www.superherohype.com/news/686814-charles-melton-backed-by-oscar-isaac-x-men-role-mcu' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/charles-melton-joins-destin-daniel-crettons-naruto-as-kakashi-hatake' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Charles Melton Joins Destin Daniel Cretton’s Naruto as Kakashi Hatake *The May December and Beef actor has been cast in Lionsgate’s live-action Naruto movie, with Destin Daniel Cretton set to write and direct. The lead trio is still being searched for, which puts Melton’s Kakashi in the room before Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have faces.* By Marcus Reid, 2026-08-22 · Away From Set Charles Melton has joined Lionsgate’s live-action Naruto movie as Kakashi Hatake, Yahoo reported, citing The Hollywood Reporter. That is a tidy sentence with a lot of weight inside it, because Kakashi is not a small chair in this particular room. He is the elite ninja mentor to Naruto Uzumaki, the boy at the center of Masashi Kishimoto’s long-running manga and anime. In a story built around young people with dangerous gifts and louder dreams, Kakashi is the adult who has to look cool, tired, funny and lethal, sometimes all before lunch. ## Melton Gets The Mask Yahoo reported that Melton will play Kakashi in the film, which is expected to begin shooting next year. The movie is being made by Lionsgate, with Destin Daniel Cretton attached to write and direct after the studio brought him aboard two years ago. For Melton, the casting asks for a specific kind of presence. Kakashi is popular for reasons that do not fit neatly on a studio memo. He is a mentor, yes, but he is also a man who withholds as much as he gives. The mask does some of the acting, and that means the actor has to do more with the eyes, the shoulders, the pause before a line. Melton has been building toward parts that require that kind of quiet pressure. Yahoo noted that he recently received an Emmy nomination for his performance in Netflix’s Beef. The same actor who can sit in discomfort and let a room curdle now gets handed one of anime’s more famous deadpan faces. That is hopeful, not proof. Nobody has seen this film. Nobody knows yet how the mask will look, how the hair will move, or whether the script gives Kakashi enough room to be more than a poster come to life. But on paper, the job makes sense. ![Charles Melton poses during the "Her Private Hell" photocall at the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2026](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/3a61513a-7407-4ad0-b60b-f0515b41dade.webp) *Photo: Gabriel Hutchinson · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Melton_at_the_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival_02.jpg)* ## Cretton’s Franchise Work Cretton is a big part of why this casting will get attention outside the Naruto crowd. Yahoo identified him as the director of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which the outlet said has grossed more than $2 billion globally. It also noted his 2021 Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. That MCU connection matters because it tells ordinary readers what kind of machine Lionsgate is trying to build here. This is not a small character drama trying on a costume for fun. It is a live-action version of a manga that ran in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014 and later became animated series seen on Cartoon Network and Disney XD, according to Yahoo. Cretton’s name also points to something else. Yahoo listed Just Mercy, with Michael B. Jordan, and Short Term 12, led by Brie Larson, among his earlier films. Those titles matter because Naruto is not only about powers and fights. It is about lonely children, teachers who fail and keep trying, and the ugly math of villages that ask kids to grow up fast. A director can know how to move a camera around a fight and still miss the human ache. Cretton’s record gives reason to hope he knows the second part is not optional. ![Charles Melton attends the Red Carpet prior to the British Independent Fil Awards held at the Round House London , 2025](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/005ca5f4-8791-4910-a6ba-01f3bcc8c10b.webp) ![Charles G Lewis - The Melton Breakfast - B1985.36.442 - Yale Center for British Art](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/959389a4-591e-4d6b-a0c9-7d25fe0ece03.webp) *Photos: Daltoncitys · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Melton_attends_the_Red_Carpet_prior_to_the_British_Independent_Fil_Awards_held_at_the_Round_House_London_,_2025.jpg); Charles James Lewis · [CC0](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_G_Lewis_-_The_Melton_Breakfast_-_B1985.36.442_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg)* ## The Kids Are Still Missing The oddest and most interesting part of the news is that Kakashi has a face before the central young trio does. Yahoo reported that the live-action Naruto movie has not yet cast Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura, and that the search for young actors is still underway. That puts Melton in a funny position. He is joining a house before we know who is moving into the bedrooms. The film will center on Naruto Uzumaki, described by Yahoo as a young, eager ninja who wants to become the leader of his village while carrying the spirit of a nine-tailed demon fox inside him. That premise can sound wild if you have never watched the anime or opened the manga. It is also simple in the way good pop stories often are: a kid wants to be seen, and the thing inside him scares everybody. Kakashi’s place in that story is practical and emotional. He is the teacher at the front of the room, but the room is full of weapons, grief and children who do not yet know what their gifts will cost. Whoever plays Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura will have to bounce off Melton. He will have to be a wall, a joke, a warning sign and, when the story needs it, a hand on the shoulder. That is where casting becomes more than trivia. It changes the working day for the younger actors still to be found. ![Melton, Charles H - 5th Veteran Reserve Corps, Company K - DPLA - 248ed6e653c83d34f22911a5017623bf](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/a90822cd-2105-48a0-a253-89694c80afbc.webp) ![Charles Melton Wines](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/322713cc-605f-4f06-8488-b35fd562fe41.webp) *Photos: War Department. The Adjutant General's Office. 3/4/1907-9/18/1947 · Public domain · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melton,_Charles_H_-_5th_Veteran_Reserve_Corps,_Company_K_-_DPLA_-_248ed6e653c83d34f22911a5017623bf.jpg); Jeff Marquis · [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Melton_Wines.jpg)* ## The X-Men Noise Around Him Melton’s name was already drifting around another large comic-book machine before this Naruto news landed. SuperHeroHype reported that Oscar Isaac had been asked about talk linking Melton to Marvel’s coming X-Men reboot. Isaac, who worked with Melton on Beef, did not confirm a role. SuperHeroHype quoted him saying he already saw Melton as “kind of a mutant superhero” and that the possible move felt “perfect” for him. Melton also did not confirm an X-Men part, according to SuperHeroHype. Asked about Marvel chatter, he spoke warmly about writer Lee Sung Jin and said it would be “incredible” to work with him again. SuperHeroHype reported that Marvel’s new X-Men film is set for May 5, 2028, with Jake Schreier directing and Lee Sung Jin writing. That is the clean line here: Naruto is the casting. X-Men remains talk, with Melton linked to Beast but not officially announced by Marvel, as SuperHeroHype reported. ## What Lands Now Yahoo reported that the Naruto movie is targeting a theatrical release in 2028. The producers include Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu, with Jeremy Latcham, Cretton and Jeyun Munford also producing. There is a lot of business in those names. Rights, budgets, release windows, casting searches, all the machinery that turns a drawing on a page into a call sheet. But for the actor, it still comes down to the old stuff: where to stand, how long to look, what to do with silence. Melton has been cast as a masked mentor in a story about a boy desperate to be recognized. The lead has not been found yet. Somewhere, a young actor is going to audition for Naruto and, if this all holds, one of the first grown-up faces waiting for him on the other side will be Charles Melton’s Kakashi. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Charles Melton](https://cinepixo.com/people/charles-melton) ## Sources - https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/charles-melton-officially-eyes-major-role-in-mcu-directors-new-franchise-movie/ar-AA2aCl4J - https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/naruto-spider-man-director-live-220840951.html - https://www.superherohype.com/news/686814-charles-melton-backed-by-oscar-isaac-x-men-role-mcu Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/charles-melton-joins-destin-daniel-crettons-naruto-as-kakashi-hatake Written for CinePixo. 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