Updated: October 10, 2025

The franchise is centered on the "Ultras" ( Japanese Hepburn: Urutora Ichizoku ), a collective term for the fictional extraterrestrial races spread across its mulitiverse, with multiple origins given for them. The warriors of these continuities gather at a planet within the M78 nebula ( M78 Emu-Nanajuhachi seiun ), ( Not to be confused with the real Messier 78 ) also called called the Land of Light ( Hikari no Kuni ). Of the 18 billion populating it, 1 million are part of the Inter Galactic Defence Force ( Uchu Keib ) who maintain peace in the universe from alien invaders and monsters. The Ultras that are sent to other worlds are given Color Timers, or "warning lights", which blink with increasing frequency if an Ultras energy dwindles. They can thus remain active for only a limited span of minutes before its energy is depleted, although it can be replenished afterwards. The main protagonists of each installment end up on Earth and merge with humans, their hosts using devices to summon their Ultra’s unique power.

The Ultraman Phenomenon:

The show Ultraman was followed by many other series. Successors during the Showa era are: Ultraseven ( 1967 ), Return of Ultraman ( 1971 ), Ultraman Ace ( 1972 ), Ultraman Taro ( 1973 ), Ultraman Leo ( 1974 ) and Ultraman 80 ( 1980 ). A second generation began during the Heisei era in 1996 with Ultraman Tiga, and the franchise continued, on and off, until its current ( Third ) generation. This began with Ultraman Ginga in 2013.

English-language productions include the 1987 animated movie Ultraman: The Adventure Begins ( Known as Ultraman USA in Japan ) which was produced by Hanna-Barbera; 1990 TV series Ultraman: Towards the Future ( Ultraman Great in Japan ) which was filmed in Australia; 1993 TV series Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero ( Ultraman Powered in Japan ) which was filmed in the United States; and 2024 animated film Ultraman: Rising which was produced by Netflix.

In 1993, Tsuburaya Productions and Toei Company co-produced Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, a crossover with the original Ultraman and Toei's Kamen Rider. This direct-to-video feature is co-copyrighted by both Toei ( And its subordinates, Toei Video and Ishinomori Productions ) and Tsuburaya Productions.

As of 2025, Tsuburaya Productions accepts 51 Ultras as official. In 2013, the Ultra Series was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the record-holder for the most spin-off shows. The Ultraman brand generated $7.4 billion in merchandising revenue from 1966 to 1987, equivalent to more than $20 billion adjusted for inflation. Ultraman was the world's third top-selling licensed character in the 1980s, largely due to his popularity in Asia.

The Ultraman manga, which began in 2011, has sold more than 2.8 million copies as of 2018. At the Tokyo Comic Con on 7 December 2017, Tsuburaya Productions revealed that an anime adaptation of the manga was planned for release in 2019. It was released by Netflix.

Ultraman content, products and services have been distributed in more than 100 countries worldwide, as of March 2018. Tsuburaya has officially made their Ultraman and non-Ultraman content widely available on their YouTube channel, even simulcasting several of their series with English subtitles, the channel has reached over 2 million subscribers. In China, an Ultraman television series received 1.8 billion views on over-the-top media services between July 2017 and March 2018.

The manga author Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, cited Ultraman as a formative influence on his work. Peyton Reed, the director of the Ant-Man films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said that Ant-Man's costume design was influenced by Ultraman along with Inframan, another tokusatsu superhero from China. Video game designer Hideki Kamiya ( Known for games such as Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, ÅŒkami, Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 ) said he loved Godzilla and Ultraman as a child.

It was announced in November 2019 that Marvel Comics has partnered with Tsuburaya Productions to publish Ultraman comic books in 2020. As of March 2021, Bandai Namco has sold 101.87 million Ultraman soft figures ( Heroes and monsters ) since 1983, while Bandai Namco Arts ( Including Bandai Visual ) has sold 8.48 million Ultraman home video units between January 1988 and March 2021.