The ensemble cast includes 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.

Unbeknownst to the SSSP, Kaminaga transforms into Ultraman, now adorning red and silver colors; he defeats Gabora before it could attack a nuclear waste storage facility.

SSSP physicist Akihisa Taki opens Kaminaga's flash drive and uncovers the basic principles and theorems of the Beta Capsule and higher dimensional domains.

Zōffy questions Ultraman's decision to sacrifice himself to save an inferior race, but after witnessing their teamwork to defeat Zetton, he is forced to admire their tenacity in the face of death.

To achieve this goal, we will draw an interesting work that emphasizes quality and sensitivity (even in terms of reality), glistening with the theme of invasion rather than a catastrophe.

Rather, Higuchi explained that the crew intended the film to delineate how humanity and the Japanese government would deal with aliens and monsters as depicted in the original 1966 Ultraman TV series.

[68] The concept is based on the 1983 oil painting "Incarnation of Truth, Justice, and Beauty" (真実と正義と美の化身, Shinjitsu to Seigi to Bi no Keshin) by Tohl Narita.

The design in question has the mask modeled after Akira Sasaki, the body frame of Furuya, and eliminating elements such as the three-minute warning light called the "Color Timer",[l] and the back fin and peepholes that were part of the actor's costume.

Director Higuchi stated, "Without Furuya's physical features, such as his tall stature, long chin and arms, and large palms, it wouldn't have been possible to reproduce Ultraman's silhouette, appearance, behavior, etc.

[77] Similarly, the digital set for Tokyo Station, where the second giant unidentified lifeform dubbed the "Mamouth Flower" appeared, was reused from Shin Godzilla in order to reduce the film's budget.

[11] The third giant unidentified lifeform to appear in the film, Peguila, who served as the antagonist of episodes 5 and 14 in Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Q, was based upon an illustration by Yūji Kaida, which depicted "cold air flowing from the surface of its body".

[11] The fifth giant unidentified lifeform to appear in the film, Kaigel, who debuted in episode 24 of Ultra Q,[m] was also based on an illustration by Kaida, as well as the kaiju's original concept art by Narita.

[11] Anno drew the computer-generated (CG) model of the fourth kaiju to make an appearance in the film, Larugeus, who debuted in episode 12 of Ultra Q.

[84] Zōffy's ultimate biological weapon, Zetton, was based upon Narita's original concept art created for its first appearance in episode 39 of Ultraman.

[97] Anno cut a scene filmed by Higuchi, in which, Asami kisses Ultraman farewell in his human disguise, Shinji, before he departed Earth to defeat Zetton, in consideration of the overall balance of the moment.

Post-production supervisor Linto Ueda explained that "This time we also used it [previsualization] to verify the angle that people would stare at a giant object when it was in front of them.

"[99] VFX supervisor Atsuki Satō added that "we took a lot of photographs from numerous angles using a drone and constructed 3DCG based on the differentiation in the data we captured to create the background.

[58][106] The score features several of Sagisu's unused songs which he composed for Shin Godzilla and Neon Genesis Evangelion,[59] as well as several recycled tracks by Kunio Miyauchi [ja].

[111] According to Natalie, Hiroshi Itsuki's song "Little Bird" from the 1974 TV series, Submersion of Japan, plays in the film during Kaminaga and Mefilas' conversation in an izakaya.

[114] Its first teaser trailer was released on January 29, 2021,[115] and received high praise from filmmakers Guillermo del Toro,[116] Jordan Vogt-Roberts,[116] and James Gunn.

[45][119] On February 13, 2022, Toho, Khara, Toei, and Tsuburaya Productions announced a collaborative project titled "Shin Japan Heroes Universe" for merchandise, special events, and tie-ins.

[132] Due to the film's success, Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Koji Yamamoto, and Shinji Higuchi made a "thank you stage greeting" at a theater in Tokyo on May 25.

[140] It was also screened at festivals in Malaysia,[142] Singapore,[142] Indonesia,[142] the Philippines,[142] Austin,[143] Valdivia,[144][145] Vienna,[146] Sitges,[147] Italy,[148] Amsterdam,[149][150] Chicago,[151][152][153] Nantes,[154] Tokyo,[155] Hawaii (with Saitoh in attendance),[156][157] Paris,[158][159] Chōfu,[160] Sydney,[161] and New Zealand.

[163] The film was theatrically released in the United Arab Emirates on September 15, 2022, opening in several cities, including Dubai, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ras Al-Khaimah, and Fujairah.

[174] At the 2022 Anime NYC Ultraman Connection Panel, it was announced that Fathom Events would give it a two-day limited release in the United States from January 11–12, 2023.

[178][179][177] Later, Anime News Network and Ultraman Connection disclosed that Rawly Pickens directed the dub, which features the voices of Chris Hackney, Dawn M. Bennett, John Burgmeier, Brandon McInnis, Emily Frongillo, Brook Chalmers, Matt Shipman, Theo Devaney, Kellen Goff and Christopher Sabat.

[12] Reviewers for Anime News Network, Deccan Herald, and La Estatuilla cited the film's lack of themes as its main flaw;[24][26][209] Matt Schley and Spencer Perry concluded it is not on par with Shin Godzilla due to its absence of criticism of Japan's government.

"[19] Nagoya Railroad hosted a collaborative event from April 22, 2022, to June 26, 2022, that allowed participants to collect "Ultra admission tickets" at 8 stations with the word "Shin" in their titles.

[231][232] Shin Ultraman director Shinji Higuchi partially directed and supervised the series while Hideaki Anno, the film's screenwriter, organizer, and producer, was in charge of planning.