Hajime GoThe wild success of Project Hail Mary is, arguably, the culmination of various media at once. What we talk about when we talk about the story is, at the moment, predominantly the film, but the 2021 novel from Andy Weir created the foundation, while the incredible audiobook narrated by Ray Porter converted an entirely separate set of fans. The film, in a sense, is just one more piece of the tapestry; the story of Ryland Grace and Rocky saving the stars is bigger than what is, right now, the biggest movie on the planet. But what if there was even more? Yes, there are rumblings about a Project Hail Mary sequel, but there’s also yet another new version of the core story coming to a different medium.A manga version of Project Hail Mary is coming from Hayakawa Publishing, which will be illustrated by artist Hajime Go. The text itself will be translated into Japanese and adapted for the manga format by Kazuko Onoda. Onoda already translated the novel itself into Japanese for Hayakawa Publishing in 2021.Interestingly, the paperback version of this translation was released in two volumes, which may also be the case for the upcoming manga. The announcement of this upcoming publication dropped on X (formerly known as Twitter) and also sported an image from the manga, one of Ryland Grace in the tunnel between the Hail Mary and the Blip-A, just as he’s about to meet Rocky for the first time.In addition to looking very cool, what might this manga offer that the novel, film, and audiobook haven’t given us? Well, if this is two volumes, then visually, the Project Hail Mary manga could give us scenes we didn’t get in the movie. For example, in the book, all sorts of extreme measures are taken on Earth to keep the global cooling at bay, including nuking Antarctica. There’s also a lot more in the book about Rocky’s journey from the planet Erid, as well as more details about Grace’s life on Earth before boarding the Hail Mary. Reportedly, the first rough cut of Project Hail Mary was at least four hours long, meaning directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord had to make some big sacrifices to keep the narrative relatively tight. But a possibly two-volume manga won’t have to make those same cuts. We could see more of Erid (in flashback), more of the astrophage farming on Earth, and possibly, all of the various EVAs Grace has to perform on the hull of the Hail Mary. The film condenses much of the amazing space heroics, which is all well and good, but fans of the full story probably know there are a few cool space scenes left out of the movie. Finally, the manga could also restore the prominence of the self-guiding craft known as “Beetles,” which contain all the data Grace sends back to Earth in order to cure the sun of the astrophage plague. In the movie, we’re told very briefly about these crafts, John, Paul, George, and Ringo, but less about the connection to the rock band the Beatles, or even the moment when Grace has to use one of the Beetles to propel his own ship. Will the manga adapt all your favorite Project Hail Mary scenes that didn’t make it into the film? It’s too early to tell, but one thing is certain: If all the images look like the preview image, readers of any language will want to snag this the second it enters orbit. Project Hail Mary is in theaters now. There is not yet a release date for the Project Hail Mary manga.