Have you all ever heard of a 1960 science fiction horror crime thriller movie called The Human Vapor by director Ishirō Honda? Odds are, unless you’re into classic Japanese cinema, you probably wouldn’t have heard of it. It’s a shame because that particular film was one of Toho’s cinematic masterpieces of the era. In fact, contemporary critics of the era praised the movie to the stars for its special effects and acting, and the movie did very well in U.S. and European theaters. Alas, despite that popularity, Toho never made a sequel to this movie. Acclaimed screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa did write a first draft for that sequel tentatively titled Frankenstein vs. the Gas Man, but it never saw the light of day. Fortunately, although we are probably never going to get a sequel, at least we can enjoy a modern remake of that movie.
Netflix Japan is proud to announce the impending streaming debut of a modern remake of an old Toho classic: Human Vapor. This will be a live-action science fiction thriller series featuring a joint production between Japan and South Korea. Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, Gannibal) is the showrunner behind it, and you can tell in the trailer for this upcoming series. A trailer that also reveals that we’ll get to see this series make its streaming debut on July 2, 2026.
As for the trailer for Human Vapor itself? You can watch it either on YouTube (weirdly enough, on Netflix Phillppines instead of Netflix’s main channel), or just look below:
Synopsis
The world recoils in shock when a person suddenly swells and explodes on live television. The culprit behind this unprecedented murder is the “Human Vapor” — a man who can transform his body into gas and slip through any barrier. He announces his killings in advance and carries them out, seemingly mocking the authorities as they struggle to close in on him. With each new incident, he corrodes society with a formless, pervasive fear.
The Human Vapor Gets Remade into Modern Japanese-South Korean Netflix Series
Fans of the original Human Vapor will notice some key differences in the story between the original and this modern remake. The original had the titular “Human Vapor” be a bank robber committing crimes with his ability to turn into a gaseous form to evade and kill both bank security and the police. In this remake though, this guy seems to be just a straight-up killer who murders someone on live TV, and even makes a televised manifesto all across Japan to explain himself. In that sense, he appears to be motivated by ideological reasons rather than financial (and romantic) reasons like in the original.
Despite this apparent departure from the original canon though, it does make this new Human Vapor man feel fresh and original. He’s no small-time bank robber. He’s basically a terrorist on a mission. With his motives and plans becoming a new source of tension and mystery for the modern era. There’s even hints in the trailer that the protagonists might even turn to science to take this guy down, as expected when you have to deal with a villain who can turn into gas. Gas can be condensed and then frozen, after all. It’s a strategy that Batman would approve of, and might be a nice treat for those who like seeing heroes turn to science to defeat their villains.
What do you all think? Are you interested in checking out this new Human Vapor for the modern era on Netflix? Tell us your gaseous thoughts in the comments section below.
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