Shin Ultraman

Shin Ultraman (シン・ウルトラマン, Shin Urutoraman) is a 2022 Japanese superhero kaiju film directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, co-produced, and co-edited by Hideaki Anno. A reimagining of Ultraman, the film is a co-production between Toho Studios and Cine Bazar, and presented by Tsuburaya Productions, Toho Co., Ltd., and Khara, Inc. It is the 37th film in the Ultraman franchise, and the second reboot of a tokusatsu series to be adapted by Anno and Higuchi, after Shin Godzilla, with Shin Kamen Rider to follow in 2023. The film stars Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka, and Hidetoshi Nishijima, with Anno and Bin Furuya as Ultraman. In the film, an extraterrestrial accidentally kills a man while battling a kaiju and takes on his appearance and place at the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol to protect Earth from further threats.

Plot
The continued appearance of giant unidentified lifeforms known as "S-Class Species" has become commonplace in Japan. Conventional weapons have no effect on them. Having exhausted all other options, the Japanese Government issued the S-Class Species Suppression Protocol and formed an enforcement unit, known as the SSSP. The members chosen for the unit are: Leader Fumio Tamura (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima), Executive Strategist Shinji Kaminaga (played by Takumi Saitoh), Unparticle Physicist Taki Akihisa (played by Daiki Arioka), and Universal Biologist Yume Funaberi (Akari Hayami) As the threat of S-Class Species worsens, a silver giant appears from beyond Earth's atmosphere. Analyst Hiroko Asami (played by Masami Nagasawa) is newly appointed to the SSSP to deal with this giant and is partnered with Shinji Kaminaga. In Hiroko's report, she writes... "Ultraman (tentative name), identity unknown". Matters get complicated when Hiroko is kidnapped and turned into a mind-controlled giant, forcing Ultraman to forge an alliance with humans to save his friend, and the world.