When it comes to Hollywood, superheroes just cannot get enough. The heroes backing Marvel and DC have become bonafide film stars since Iron Man debuted in 2008. Now, Japan is hoping to get in on the action, and it seems Ultraman is ready to hit up international fans.
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According to a new piece by The Hollywood Reporter, the team behind Ultraman has signed a deal with Starlight Runner Entertainment. The pair are coming together to promote Ultraman outside of Japan, and it seems a live-action streaming series may be on the table.
Tsuburaya Productions hopes its deal with Starlight Runner Entertainment will renew interest in Ultraman outside of Japan. The report confirms the U.S. production company will work with The Licensing Group on a variety of platforms. Ultraman is eyeing story-driven content, and Starlight Runner plans to expand the franchise’s merchandise and licensing deals. The Hollywood Reporter says this plan will be supported by programs on cable, streaming services, and SVOD.
“Ultraman is one of my greatest childhood heroes. We’re honored to be embarking on this mission to bring this family of characters back to the world stage,” said Jeff Gomez, the CEO of Starlight Runner.
So far, the reboot deal has kept all it specific plans under wraps. Currently, fans of Ultraman are awaiting the hero’s big return to global television, and he will do so on Netflix. The streaming platform ordered an original anime, and the CG-animated series will debut in April 2019. You can check out the full synopsis for Netflix’s Ultraman below:
“Several years have passed since the events of Ultraman, with the legendary “Giant of Light” now a memory, as it is believed he returned home after fighting the many giant aliens that invaded the Earth. Shin Hayata’s son Shinjiro seems to possess a strange ability, and it is this ability, along with his father’s revelation that he was Ultraman, that leads Shinjiro to battle the new aliens invading the Earth as the new Ultraman.”
For those unfamiliar with Ultraman, it is a tokusatsu series created by Eiji Tsuburaya for the Tsuburaya Productions studio. Running for a total of 39 episodes the series aired from July 1966 to April 1967. The second series of the Ultra Q franchise, it has since led to many sequels and spin-offs. Eiji Tsubuyara is also credited with being one of the co-creators of one of the most popular tokusatsu series of all time, Godzilla.
So, what do you make of this big reboot deal? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime
