Anime

Ultraman: Rising Director Has Some Spin-Offs in Mind

Ultraman: Rising’s director is all-in on the world of Ken Sato and has some spin-off ideas in mind.
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Ultraman: Rising hit the ground floor running by re-imaging one of the most popular kaiju fighters in the history of Japan. First arriving in 1966, the giant monster brawler has received countless animated series, movies, and other projects that have documented the many adventures of Ken Sato. Most recently, director Shannon Tindle released the movie on Netflix to great acclaim, as old and new fans have witnessed Ken trying to be a father to a baby kaiju. While no sequel has been confirmed as of yet, Tindle already has plenty of ideas for how the new universe could move forward.

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Going to social media, Shannon Tindle revealed that the creative team responsible had more ideas in mind when it came to expanding on Ken’s universe, “We developed two series alongside the film – one was a prequel about Emiko Sato and the origins of the Kaiju Defense Force, and the other was a preschool series with Emi. They would’ve been pretty cool. Maybe I’ll post some art at some point.”

An Ultraman Trilogy?

Earlier this year, we here at ComicBook had the chance to chat with Tindle and the recent CG-animated film. In the future, the director is hoping that this first movie will be a part of a trilogy, “I will say this. I have ideas for two more films. I know very specifically what I want to do for those two films. And all I can say is, fans of the emotion and the heart of Ultraman, people who don’t know anything about Ultraman at all, I think are going to be surprised if I get to make those movies, and hardcore fans, they’re going to have fun too. Because there’s one thing that we didn’t explore in this film […] so I’ll let you infer what you want with that.”

If you have yet to check out Ultraman: Rising, the animated film is now streaming on Netflix. Here’s how the streaming service describes the movie, “Baseball superstar Ken Sato 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.”  

Want to see if Ultraman: Rising becomes the first part of a franchise? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on the kaiju fighter.