Black Clover movie timeline, explained

The animation and fight scenes in Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King left fans excited after it was released. While they loved the new movie, several fans were left confused as to where the events from the movie fit into the anime’s storyline.

Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King sees former Wizard King Conrad Leto return as he gets unsealed. He uses the Imperial Sword to revive three other fearsome Wizard Kings from the past, alongside whom he tries to destroy the Clover Kingdom. However, Asta and the Magic Knights cannot allow them to go through with their plan.

When does the Black Clover movie take place?

Asta as seen in the movie (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The events of Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King take place between the events of the Elf Reincarnation arc and the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle arc. This is especially evident from the fact that the novelization of the movie is titled Black Clover Volume 23.5 which means that the events in the film take place during the six-month time skip after the Elf Reincarnation arc, i.e., during the training period.

Considering that the anime did feature some parts of the six-month time skip, it did not happen immediately after the training period began but after a few months. This is also evident from how Asta changed physically, which cannot happen quickly. Thus, the events from the movie are presumed to have taken place three months after the training period began.

Mereoleona Vermillion as seen in the movie (Image via Studio Pierrot)

This gives enough time for the characters to train and become stronger. That’s why Asta was able to look the same as his appearance in the Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle arc, similar to many other characters who had new character designs during the same arc.

During the same time, Yuno got promoted to the position of the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn. While fans still did not see him becoming one, it was announced by Mimosa during the Triumph tournament that he was the Vice-Captain at the time.

Yuno as seen in the movie (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Another hint about the timeline was also given at the beginning of the movie. It was stated that Asta could not take part in the Triumph tournament due to his devil trials, which happened right after the Elf Reincarnation arc.

Is Black Clover movie canon?

No, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King is not essentially a canon storyline as the events did not occur in the manga. That said, the Mangaka Yuki Tabata did supervise the film and stated how he originally wanted to include the story in the manga but could not do it at the time.

Former Wizard King Conrad Leto as seen in the movie (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The movie and the characters fit right in with the series’ canon storyline and lore, so they do not contradict any events that originally occurred in the series. Thus, Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King has an anime-original storyline. This means that it is part of the series, but wasn’t originally present in the manga.