The Future of Gundam Takes Shape at New York Comic Con 2026

“It’s a valuable gift, from a valuable friend.”

This year’s version of the Gundam Showcase was largely focused on the SEED stories in the Cosmic Era timeline. The panel was composed of Matt Hill, who provides the voice of Kira Yamato, Matthew Erickson voicing Shin Asuka, Sam Vincent who plays Athrun Zala and producer Kaori Shida as well as long-time Gundam Executive Producer, Naohiro Ogata.

As part of the build-up to Mobile Suit Gundam’s 50^th anniversary celebration (which will take place in three years), ARX-Zero, a new animated show, was announced. The show will be connected with the Gundam: Rogue Orbit video game in some as-of-yet unexplained way.  The game will be available on Xbox series X, PlayStation 5, and PC through Steam in March of 2027. There are also plans for a live-action Netflix film.

However, the main thrust of the presentation was the unveiling of a trailer for the new animated feature, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom Zero. The film is a prequel to 2024’s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, which is the highest-grossing film in the extended Gundam franchise. This new story will revolve around Shin’s response when he faces the consequences for a Gundam-jacking that happens on his watch.

Joining the panel on a flatscreen, director Mitsuo Fukuda shared that he was very excited about the SEED Freedom Zero project, as it was the last thing his late wife, Chiaki Morosawa, the creator of the Cosmic Era, wrote before she passed away. He said that the film connects the ending of the SEED Destiny show to the beginning of the SEED Freedom film.

The panel went to great pains to remind New York City that when the convention ends, the Tamashii Nations store, located at 1500 Broadway in 10036, off of Times Square, will still be there. Please visit when you get a chance. Finally, Gundam Channel INTL, which can be found on YouTube, is airing every episode of Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny, as well as the excellent, unrelated, twilight-of-the-UC series, Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn.