Studio Khara and Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno’s Shin Ultraman has a new trailer offering a detailed look at the tokusatsu reboot film. Previous clips from the movie were limited to teasers that deliberately limited looks at Ultraman or the Kaiju involved. The new video, though, is a full trailer, treating viewers to snippets of dialog and a better look at the story.
Check out the Shin Ultraman trailer below, or check out the official website.
The Shin Ultraman trailer opens with the members of the Science Patrol arriving on the scene of a Kaiju attack. The course of their investigation leads them to make contact not just with the Kaiju (the film involves creatures that resemble Neronga and Gabora), but with another human-sized being. That being appears to be a modernized take on Alien Zarab, a multi-eyed foe of Ultraman. In the original Ultraman setting, Alien Zarab is the name for an individual representing extraterrestrials from the planet Zarab. Alien Zarab is a diabolical plotter, first using deceptive tactics to sow chaos on a target world before destroying it. In the original series, the Science Patrol is hoodwinked by Alien Zarab, who poses as a friend of Earth. Zarab then attempts to convince the government to turn against both Ultraman and the Science Patrol. The scenes with Zarab in the Shin Ultraman trailer show it interacting with humans, and even riding in a car alongside the protagonist, played by actor Takumi Saito.
Another alien reveal in the Shin Ultraman trailer is fairly low-key and easy to miss. In it a man in a black suit hands someone a calling card that identifies as “Ambassador of the Extraterrestrial Race #0, Mefilas.” The voiceover line asks the viewer to “consider cooperating with me for the sake of this planet.” Alien Mefilas is an original Ultraman villain characterized by their initial request to simply take possession of Earth peacefully, as they dislike resorting to violent conquest. Other scenes include Ultraman devastating a hillside with his arrival, and also his Ultra Beam. Scenes of Ultraman flying, and of the protagonist using his Beta Capsule to turn into Ultraman.
Shin Ultraman premieres in Japan on May 13, 2022. No international release plans have been announced. Shin Ultraman and other “Shin” reboot projects like Shin Godzilla are being incorporated into a new, unified initiative called Shin Japan Heroes Universe.
