'Ultraman: Rising' Ending Explained: Does Netflix's Kaiju Movie Set Up a Sequel? (2024)

Ultraman: Rising brings a new version of the tokusatsu icon to the screen, wrestling with giant monsters and the weight of fatherhood. This new Ultraman is baseball player Ken Sato (Christopher Sean), who returns to Japan to help a struggling team. But the massive dragon known as Gigantron attacks, leading to a confrontation with Ultraman... and the revelation that Gigantron was attempting to protect one of her eggs. Said egg hatches, with the baby — named Emi—imprinting on Ken and thinking he is her father. Ken now has to juggle being Ultraman, his baseball career, and taking care of Emi while dodging the Kaiju Defense Force.

Whether audience members are longtime Ultraman fans or newcomers to the franchise, Ultraman: Rising will keep them engaged throughout its runtime. Part of that is due to director/co-writer Shannon Tindle's unique visual fingerprints; he's able to give viewers the same titanic battles that defined the Ultraman mythos while also adding in some visual flair that feels inspired by Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Tindle and co-writer Marc Haimes also know their way around Japanese legends, having contributed to the script for LAIKA's severely underrated Kubo and the Two Strings. So how exactly does Ultraman: Rising end — and is there hope for a sequel?

Ultraman: Rising (2024)

PG

Adventure

Family

Animation

See Also

EarthSky | Don’t miss! Hunter’s Moon 2023 and Jupiter tonightThe Moon | TheSkyLiveMoney blog: Taylor Swift makes £450 kebab shop orderHow Nigel Farage blew up the UK election

610

The legacy of a colossal hero is passed down to his unsuspecting son in a futuristic city besieged by giant monsters. Struggling with his new-found powers and the weight of expectations, the young hero learns to harness his abilities under the guidance of a veteran warrior to defend humanity from impending doom.

Release Date

June 14, 2024

Director

Shannon Tindle , John Aoshima

Cast

Christopher Sean , Gedde Watanabe , Tamlyn Tomita , Keone Young , Julia Harriman

Runtime

117 minutes

Writers

Shannon Tindle , Marc Haimes

‘Ultraman: Rising’ Has Not One, but Two Ultramen

Throughout Ultraman: Rising, Ken avoids talking about his family, even when pressed by reporter Ami Wakita (Julia Harriman). He traveled to America to hone his baseball skills and eventually became a superstar but had to take over the mantle of Ultraman when his father, Professor Sato (Gedde Watanabe) was injured. The disappearance of Ken's mother Emiko (Tamilyn Tomita) weighs heavily on both men, to the point where Ken refuses to talk to his father. All he has for company is Mina (also voiced by Tomita), a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence that helps him keep his life in order. When Emi breaks out of Ken's house and is hurt during a chase with the Kaiju Defense Force, Ken winds up calling his father for help. Professor Sato starts helping Ken train Emi to defend herself while also revealing that he kept searching for Emiko following her disappearance. He also transforms into Ultraman once again to help Ken in his final fight against the Kaiju Defense Force.

This isn't the first time Netflix has taken such an approach to Ultraman. The recently-concluded Ultraman anime took a similar route, with the original Ultraman Shin Hayata passing on his mantle to his son Shinjiro. It also featured updated takes on Ultraman's kaiju and allies and tackled heavy themes including the cost of war. The fact that two projects can present different takes on the same story speaks to the enduring appeal of Ultraman as a character.

The Villain of ‘Ultraman: Rising’ Has a Surprisingly Emotional Backstory

The Kaiju Defense Force's leader Dr. Onda (Keone Young) seems particularly fixated on re-capturing Emi throughout Ultraman: Rising, even ordering his troops to fire on Ultraman if necessary. It's eventually revealed that Onda's wife and daughter died in a kaiju attack, and he's hellbent on destroying all kaiju as a result. Emi possesses echolocation abilities that could map the way to Kaiju Island, where most of the kaiju reside, so Onda creates "Project Surrogate," which seems to be a mechanized recreation of Gigantron. However, it's actually the real Gigantron encased in metal armor, and when Ken and Emi finally get through to the kaiju, she wakes up, rejecting the KDF's programming, and joins the fight against them.

This doesn't deter Onda, who takes control of the KDF's mobile aircraft and transforms it into a giant mecha to fight the Ultramen and Gigantrons. But the mecha is severely damaged, leading Onda to trigger a detonation sequence and attempt to destroy the city in the process. This move of desperation results in Ken throwing himself on the mecha and forming a force shield to contain the explosion. Although Ken is partially wounded, the city is saved, and he and Professor Sato then help Gigantron and Emi travel to Kaiju Island, where they can live in (relative) peace. Ken also manages to lead his baseball team, the Giants, to victory in the playoffs.

‘Ultraman: Rising’s Mid-Credits Sequence Hints at a Galaxy-Hopping Sequel

Even though Ken has helped protect Emi and reconciled with his father, Ultraman: Rising still manages to touch on one of its lingering plot threads with a mid-credits scene. While Ken is sleeping, his watch starts beeping... and he hears the voice of his mother. "Ken... I'm alive," she says, as Ken looks on in shock. Given how impactful the loss of Emiko was on both Ken and his father, a potential sequel to Ultraman: Rising looks like it will focus on the Sato family reuniting.

The biggest reveal, however, is where Emiko is located: Nebula M78. This nebula is home to the Land of Light, the dimension where the Ultras reside. Throughout the history of the Ultraman franchise, Nebula M78 has played a major role, as Ultras have bonded with humans to create the various incarnations of Ultraman. Tindle has a chance to put his own spin on the different versions of Ultraman if Netflix greenlights a sequel.

Ultraman: Rising is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix