When Will Evangelion 4.0 Release?

Tamal Kundu of When Will Evangelion 4.0 Release? Tamal Kundu
January 16, 2021

The legendary anime series ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’s massive success led to the resurgence of the anime industry as a whole and gave way to a sprawling billion-dollar franchise that includes the extremely popular ‘Rebuild of Evangelion’ film series. The first movie, titled ‘Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone,’ premiered on September 1, 2007. It was followed by the release of two more films and the announcement of a fourth one.

However, the production of the fourth film, which is also slated to be the last one, has encountered several issues over the years. This, in turn, has delayed its release date. The prospective tetralogy has an immensely captived audience spread worldwide, and they are eager for the concluding entry in ‘Rebuild of Evangelion.’ Here is everything we have been able to find out on the subject.

Evangelion 4.0 Release Date

The 3rd entry in the ‘Rebuild of Evangelion’ film series, titled ‘Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo,’ premiered on November 17, 2012. The fourth and final film, titled ‘Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time’, was announced alongside the third one. While the first two films were critical and commercial hits, ‘You Can (Not) Redo’ garnered a lukewarm response. This was followed by the franchise’s director and producer Hideaki Anno descending into another bout of severe depression.

In 2015, he released a public statement in which he revealed that he did not visit the studio even once in 2013. That year, Toho (one of the two co-distributors of ‘Thrice Upon a Time’) approached Anno to co-direct their new ‘Godzilla’ project. Initially tentative, Anno eventually accepted. ‘Shin Godzilla’ came out in July 2016. The initial delay in the production of ‘Thrice Upon a Time’ happened because Anno was busy making ‘Shin Godzilla.’

However, by April 2017, the production for the fourth Evangelion film had already begun. On July 6, 2019, Khara hosted a screening of the first 10 minutes of the film at the Japan Expo in Paris. The footage was simultaneously shown at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, CCG Expo 2019 in Shanghai, and several Japanese locations. The production was progressing smoothly, with the plans to release the movie on June 27, 2020. But then the COVID pandemic happened, and the film suffered another setback when it was taken out of the schedule in April 2020.

The new date of release was set for January 23, 2021. But because of the pandemic, the film was again removed from the schedule on January 14, 2021. The producers have since mentioned no revised date for the premiere. The film is likely completed, and COVID vaccines are becoming available all over the world. Considering all this, we can safely assume that ‘Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time’ will probably premiere at some point in late 2021.

Evangelion 4.0: What Can It Be About?

The film tetralogy is often construed as the retelling of ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion,’ although it does have several original elements. The hard sci-fi is set in a world where humanity fights with an alien species known as the angels with bio-mechanized armors called Evangelions. In the third film, Shinji Ikari is discovered along with the Evangelion Unit 01 in a container on Earth’s orbit. After he is brought out of the unit, Shinji is taken to meet Captain Misato Katsuragi, who is now the head of WILLE.

After Shinji escapes and reunites with his father Gendo Ikari and Rei Ayanami, he learns that when he awakened Unit 01, it led to the Third Impact. The film ends with the rise of Unit 13, which begins the Fourth Impact. Kaworu, a friend of Shinji, dies, and Asuka saves Shinji. As the Paris screening demonstrated, the opening sequence of ‘Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time’ is set in Paris. It shows a team of WILLE fighters coming down from Wunder and engaging the enemy. Later in the film, the three pilots, still stuck in Japan, might get rescued. A plot point might also revolve around the Black Moon, which makes an appearance in one of the trailers.

Read More: Best Anime Movies of All Time 

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