Stanley Haggard is a character that appeared in Ultraman: Towards the Future. He is a former colleague of Jack Shindo, who also became the host of Barrangas under the control of Gudis.
Personality[]
Before being controlled by Gudis, Stanley was a righteous and curious young man who actively engaged in exploration missions at the Mars base. When facing danger, he was also concerned about Jack's safety in the first place, showing his respect for other people's lives.
However, after being mentally controlled by Gudis, he became more cunning and treacherous. In addition to deliberately plotting against others and showing a ruthless personality, he developed a twisted admiration for Gudis and believed that Gudis was a divine being.
History[]
Ultraman: Towards the Future[]
As planetary explorers for the Australian Space Resources Survey agency "MSRA", Stanley and Jack came to Mars to carry out exploration missions. However, when the two were exploring on the surface, they witnessed the appearance of Gudis and the battle between Gudis and Ultraman Great. In the crisis, both were affected and trapped, and Jack gave Stanley the command to send the evidence of Gudis's footage back to Earth in order to save him, allowing Stanley to successfully return to the landing craft. However, the landing craft was destroyed by Gudis' attack, and Stanley died on the spot.Tourists from the Stars
Later, Stanley's body was used and secretly implanted with Gudis' cells to bring him back to life. He became a loyal subordinate of Gudis and secretly returned to Earth to begin his covert operations in order to bring about his master's resurrection.The Hibernator
Later on, he used his disguised superweapon to carry out a staged operation. He infiltrated the UMA South Pacific branch base and attempted to kill Jack, who had merged with Ultraman Great. After killing the technician who was studying Gudis Cells, he engaged in a battle with Jack and was suspected by UMA as the perpetrator of the incident and subsequently detained. However, he escaped from the detention room in a gaseous state. He destroyed some of UMA's fighter jets, crippling the base, and kidnapped Jean, taking her to the city reconstruction area where Gudis Cells were gathered. forcibly merged her with Gudis to give Gudis powers.
During the conversation with Jack, Stanley believes that his fate had already been determined during the accident on Mars, and therefore he has decided to let go of the past and retain his resentment towards Great and jealousy towards Jack. He believes that he didn't have the chance to be saved. In a stalemate, Stanley decides to fuse with Barrangas in an attempt to kill Jack. However, Jack managed to retrieve his Delta Plasma and transformed into the Ultraman Great to fight him. Later, he merged with Gudis and became a part of it. Blast from the Past
In the end, he and Gudis, along with all its cells, were completely eradicated by Ultraman Great in the battle. The Showdown
Other Media[]
Ultraman Great Manga[]
In the manga adaptation, Stanley Haggard appears as a main character, with his personality, experiences, and actions remaining consistent with those depicted in the original TV series.Ultraman Great (manga)
Gallery[]
Ultraman: Towards the Future[]
Trivia[]
- According to Jay Hackett's 2022 interview:[1]
- Initially, while working on the ABC miniseries Come in Spinner, he was asked to meet with the producers of Ultraman: Towards the Future at Hotel Gazebo, which led to him landing the role of Stanley.
- The Mars scenes were originally filmed in a quarry-like location on the outskirts of Adelaide, although Hackett does not remember the exact location. Another possibility is Hawker in South Australia. Additionally, the interior spaceship scenes were shot at Hendon Studios.
- Hackett viewed Stanley's role as a human Gudis, somewhat like a villain in a James Bond film. However, he didn’t think too much about interpreting Stanley, as he believed the whole series was essentially a live-action cartoon.
- Hackett mentioned that working on the series with Japanese producers and Australian staff was a great experience. As an extra, he convinced them of his singing abilities after demonstrating a tape and flew to Tokyo shortly after filming wrapped. There, he was well taken care of by Tsuburaya Productions and performed the theme song for the series, "ULTRAMAN."
References[]