When Netflix announced that it was working on an original animated Ultraman movie last year, it did so with a bold, evocative teaser image that left us wondering if it was just awesome concept work — or an actual indicator of just how close the film would come to looking like that. Turns out the answer is, delightfully, “very very close.”
Today Netflix dropped a new teaser image from the still-untitled movie, directed by Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima. And while the streamer describes the incredibly slick shot — presenting Ultraman, arms crossed, blasting his specium beam attack in a red-soaked city street — as being a “bold new look drawn from the manga, anime, and of course, the original series,” that’s… not really all that accurate.
A new ULTRAMAN film is coming! Combining the original Ultraman with a bold new look drawn from manga, anime, and of course, the original series. pic.twitter.com/vxKxnER8VG
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) July 5, 2022
Yes, the design of Ultraman himself is very classically like the suits of the tokustatsu show, but this doesn’t look evocative of either Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi’s manga riff on the franchise nor its CG anime adaptation, which is also currently streaming on Netflix. If anything, it looks like Ultraman by the way of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a bold, bright, wildly stylish riff on a classic superhero icon. And hey, you know what? More superheroes should have their own Into the Spider-Verse, really. Glad Ultraman’s getting with the program.
We’ll bring you more on Netflix’s plans for Ultraman as and when we learn them.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.