New ULTRAMAN: RISING Trailer Sees Ultraman Babysitting a Newborn Kaiju
Netflix has released a full trailer for its upcoming animated film Ultraman: Rising, which is a very different kind of Ultraman story than we’ve seen before.
The movie is an action-adventure comedy that sees Ultraman battle giant creatures, but it also sees the hero finding himself in a situation where he’s babysitting a baby Kaiju.
The story follows Baseball superstar Ken Sato, who “returns to his home country of Japan to pick up the mantle of Earth-defending superhero Ultraman, but quickly finds more than he bargained for when he's forced to raise the offspring of his greatest foe, a newborn Kaiju.
“Struggling to balance the roles of teammate and new father, Ken must confront his own ego, his estranged father, and the conniving Kaiju Defense Force to rise up and discover what it truly means to be Ultraman."
Ultraman: Rising takes viewers on a gripping journey filled with newfound responsibilities, unexpected challenges, and the age-old battle between good and evil.
The cast of Ultraman: Rising includes Christopher Sean (You, Gotham Knights), Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles, Parental Guidance), Tamlyn Tomita (The Karate Kid Part II, Cobra Kai, and Avatar: The Last Airbender), Keone Young (Men in Black 3, Star Wars Rebels), and Julia Harriman.
The film comes from Tsuburaya Productions, who teamed up with Netflix and Industrial Light & Magic to bring this new Ultraman story to life.
Directed by Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima, Ultraman: Rising comes to life from a script co-written by Tindle and Marc Haimes. Tindle's connection with the project dates back to 2001, initially envisioning it as an original film inspired by the Ultraman mythos.
After selling the concept in 2015, the project took an unexpected turn when Netflix entered the scene, proposing the acquisition of the Ultraman license. Following a successful pitch to Tsuburaya, the owner of the Ultraman IP, Netflix officially announced Ultraman: Rising in 2021, marking a significant chapter in the superhero's storied legacy.
Tindle said in a recent interview with SFX magazine: "I never thought there would be any way I could get the rights to the characters and at that time, I couldn’t have.”
"I said, 'Well, nerd me is very excited by that. But producer/ director me wants to make a movie that I want to make.’ They said, 'We support that whether it’s going to be Ultraman or not – we want to make the movie.'"
Ultraman is a beloved Japanese superhero who has maintained a prominent presence since his debut in the 1960s, evolving across various mediums.
Ultraman: Rising is set to be released on June 16th.