While Japanese Tokusatsu like Godzilla and other Kaiju have seen a resurgence of interest lately, Ultraman has languished in relative obscurity. Sure, there have been plenty of movies and TV series since the cult classic 1960s Ultraman TV show, but nothing really high-profile. That’s about to change.
A new Ultraman 3D anime film is on the way, heading for release in 2019. The movie will be an adaptation of the popular Ultraman manga, which itself was a direct sequel to the original TV series. What that means is that this new film will both act as a sequel to Ultraman and a retelling of a classic and beloved manga. Talk about a win-win. The new film will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who previously helmed the majority of the episodes for anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. And before you scoff at the idea of an anime film, we’d like to direct your attention to the recently-released Godzilla anime film because it is downright amazing.
The new Ultraman film will put a decidedly different take on the hero, however, as Ultraman (or more accurately, his son filling his dad’s shoes as the new hero in town) apparently will not transform into a skyscraper-sized superhero in order to fight Kaiju. Instead, he’ll just be a normal, man-sized superhero. Seems like an odd direction to take, but we’re willing to give it a shot. Here’s the first poster, which we’re not going to lie, has a serious Ant-Man meets Iron Man vibe to it.
Credit: Production I.G. & Sola Digitial Arts
No word yet on when this new version of Ultraman will debut, but we can’t deny that we’re looking forward to it. And who knows, maybe if it does well then we’ll finally get a Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot!
