Honkai Star Rail short film comes out of nowhere to debut this week

Honkai Star Rail
(Image credit: HoYoverse)

Honkai Star Rail is getting a surprise short film later this week.

Titled 'Honkai Star Rail - A Flash,' the short film from developer HoYoverse is set to be released around the world tomorrow on May 10. This probably isn't a crossover with DC's The Flash movie, but probably will give us new lore and character info on HoYoverse's latest game.

There's a hell of a lot of speculation among Honkai Star Rail players as to what this short film could be about. One popular line of thought is that it'll introduce us to new characters set to debut in upcoming patches for HoYoverse's game, but given the developer's track record of unveiling characters for Genshin Impact, this seems a little unlikely.

One really solid theory is that this could be centred around Jingliu - Jing Yuan's teacher. The tweet above certainly alludes to a teacher and a student, and we know that Jingliu has the power to slice through time and space itself, which is what the "unceasing torrent of time" could be referring to in the tweet.

There's also an expectation among fans that this short film could be a trend for Honkai Star Rail, and we could see more of them in the future. There's nothing really here to suggest that's the case though, so it might be best to temper these expectations before they predictably get out of hand.

Honkai Star Rail had 20 million players on day one when it launched, meaning it comfortably beat out Genshin Impact's massive launch for HoYoverse. 

Check out our complete Honkai Star Rail banner schedule guide for a look at all the current and upcoming banners. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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