Two years after launching its CG-animated Ultraman series, Netflix is getting ready to expand the franchise. Variety brings word that the streaming service is prepping a new animated movie starring the Japanese superhero.
Netflix is working with Tsuburaya Productions on the new project. However, the film will be separate from the TV series, which is based on the 2011 manga that finds Shinjiro Hayata (the son of the original Ultraman) taking up his father’s mantle as Japan’s new hero. Netflix renewed the show for a second season in 2019, but a premiere date still hasn’t been announced.
Instead, the movie will introduce a new hero named Ken Sato. In the film, Ken is a baseball star who becomes the latest character to don Ultraman’s iconic silver suit. But Ken’s kaiju-killing duties get more complicated when he’s forced to raise a newborn monster that just so happens to be the child of his greatest enemy. As if that weren’t enough to deal with, Ken will also have to confront his troubled relationship with his own father and tangle with the “schemes” of the Kaiju Defense Force. No actors have been hired yet, but the producers are reportedly looking cast both Japanese and western voices.
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The film will mark the feature directorial debut of Shannon Tindle. Previously, Tindle worked as an animator on stop-motion films like Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings. He’s co-directing the movie with John Aoshima, a veteran of DuckTales and Gravity Falls. Tindle is also co-writing the script with Kubo scribe Marc Haimes. Additionally, Industrial Light and Magic is helping Tsuburaya design the film’s unique CG-animation style.
Netflix still hasn’t announced a release date for its Ultraman movie.
Are you excited about the streamer’s plans for the film? Let us know in the comments down below!
Recommended Reading: Ultraman Vol. 1
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