‘Godzilla Minus One’ Sequel Seemingly Quietly Confirms Return of Key Characters
It looks like the sequel to Godzilla Minus One is officially on its way, and two key characters might be coming back, even though Toho hasn’t made a big announcement yet. Fans online discovered that the names of Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe, who played Koichi and Noriko, are hidden in the source code of a casting page for the new film. It’s not exactly a public statement, but it’s a pretty strong hint.
Toho unintentionally confirmed Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return as Koichi and Noriko in the ‘Godzilla Minus One’ sequel 💀
— Kaiju No. 14 (@14_kaiju) July 28, 2025
Their Japanese names are hidden in the source code of the film's extra recruitment webpage. pic.twitter.com/2BZDUz7ZEE
I am being deadass 😭
— Kaiju No. 14 (@14_kaiju) July 28, 2025
view-source:https://t.co/vxeM1XTUTl pic.twitter.com/0312FjDoP1
Back in early 2024, director Takashi Yamazaki said there hadn’t been any real discussions yet, but he was open to the idea. He said he wanted to explore what happened next in the lives of the same characters and was interested in Godzilla fighting another monster. In an interview with Mono Magazine, he said the follow-up might focus on the curse Godzilla left behind in Japan, similar to the curse in Princess Mononoke.
Actress Minami Hamabe even joked in the same interview, “If there is a next series, I might be the one stepping on and crushing people.” Fellow cast member Sakura Ando also had fun imagining what could come next. In a chat with the Daily Express, she said, “I would like to be jumping like this Spider-Man-type woman taking down Godzilla.”
The buzz around a sequel really picked up during a black-and-white screening of the film in Tokyo on January 12, 2024. Many of the cast were there, while Yamazaki joined remotely from the U.S. He talked about possibly bringing the characters back to the sea. Actor Hidetaka Yoshioka had an idea that Noriko could help find Godzilla because, in his words, she might have the creature’s “cells.”
In a Q&A with Collider in February, Yamazaki confirmed he had started working on a new film, but said it wasn’t officially a sequel to Minus One. Producer Minami Ichikawa also said that Toho was going to take its time. He told the press they wanted “great ideas, an excellent script, a talented director, and the right cast to work on it carefully” and added, “Godzilla deserves to have that level of intentionality.”
Later that year, on November 1, it was revealed that Toho had greenlit a new Godzilla film, with Yamazaki back on board to write, direct, and do the visual effects. At the Visual Effects Society Awards in February 2025, Yamazaki said he was working on the script and storyboards and that this next film would probably cost more than Minus One.
In April, Bloomberg confirmed that a sequel was indeed in development. Most recently, in July 2025, Toho International president Koji Ueda said the movie could be ready for release in 2026.
So while Toho hasn’t made anything official about the cast, fans might want to keep a close eye on that source code, because it looks like Koichi and Noriko aren’t done with Godzilla just yet.
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