Paramount Pictures has released the newest trailer for their adaptation of the popular manga Ghost in the Shell. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as Major, the lead protagonist, a synthetic human who works as a field commander of Public Security Section 9. Recent trailers and a Super Bowl TV spot have shown that Rupert Sanders‘ latest directorial effort will be a visual stunner.

Watch the new trailer here below.

Fans of the source material, however, have expressed their frustration over Johansson’s casting of Major. The lead character of the popular Japanese manga franchise has been depicted as Japanese. So when a caucasian was cast as the lead role, accusations of whitewashing started to flood Twitter.

Of course, it’s been difficult to justify such a casting. Cast and crew’s comments have either been overlooked or not taken seriously. Still, let’s not overlook the fact that there is an actress playing a strong female lead. Visually, the film looks great. But is any of that enough to fix the glaring problem? There’s also the issue of will this be a decent adaptation? It should be interesting to see if the film can overcome any of these issues. If it does, we could end up seeing more Ghost in the Shell films.

As for the trailer, it covers more of the plot, more so than any of the other previous trailers. We learn that there is a conspiracy that targets Major, who apparently has latent memories. The trailer also reveals Kuze, the villain who has gone unseen for most of the marketing campaign.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Michael Pitt, Juliette Binoche, and Takeshi Kitano, Ghost in the Shell opens in theaters on March 31.

Trailer

[Source: Paramount]