Evangelion creator’s new Kamen Rider movie looks gloriously retro

Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno is giving cyborg biker hero Kamen Rider the “Shin” (meaning “new”) treatment, just as he did with Godzilla and Ultraman with 2016’s Shin Godzilla and the still-unreleased Shin Ultraman. On Thursday, Anno and movie studio Toei Company offered a glimpse of Shin Kamen Rider, a new movie coming in 2023 that’s both a reboot and dripping with Kamen Rider nostalgia.

That’s evident in the first promotional video for Shin Kamen Rider, which is a faithful recreation of the TV show’s 1971 opening sequence. (There’s also a second, nearly identical teaser trailer.) The new Kamen Rider, played by Sosuke Ikematsu (Shoplifters, Midnight Diner), rides through the desert on his Cyclone motorcycle, and at the end, a mysterious, acrobatic agent of Shocker known as Man Spider appears. The teaser is set to the classic opening theme “Let’s Go!! Rider Kick.”

Confirmed to appear alongside Ikematsu in Shin Kamen Rider is actor Minami Hamabe, who will play Kamen Rider/Takeshi Hongo’s longtime ally Ruriko Midorikawa. Hamabe starred in the 2017 film Let Me Eat Your Pancreas and played a young Mia Fey in Takashi Miike’s 2012 film based on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

Here’s a closer look at the two leads in costume:

Shin Kamen Rider does not have a release date, but is expected in early 2023.

Anno is writing and directing Shin Kamen Rider. He also planned and wrote Shin Ultraman, which was directed by Shinji Higuchi, who also served as co-director with Anno on Shin Godzilla.

The Kamen Rider franchise celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The property started with a television series in 1971, and has since spawned sequel series, movies, manga, and a robust, multibillion dollar toy and merchandise line. Manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori created Kamen Rider, and is well known for his other creations, the manga series Cyborg 009 and tokusatsu superhero series Super Sentai, which was later adapted as Power Rangers.