Evangelion fans have been waiting about four years now for the follow-up to Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. Now, after finishing up with his duties in the new Godzilla film, Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno has stated that he is ready to start making the fourth and final movie of the Eva quarter. In fact, the director even addressed Evangelion fans directly, apologizing for the delay.

Anno's announcement and apology happened during a press event for his latest movie, Godzilla: Resurgence, which is set to be released in Japan soon. Though the upcoming movie's staff has already warned reporters not to address any Evangelion-related questions to the director, Anno surprised everyone by making the first move.

"First of all, I would like to apologize. I have kept you waiting for the new Evangelion for a very, very long time. I am deeply sorry," he said.

"To me, Evangelion is my soul; it is a work that scrapes off bits of my soul. The previous work, Evangelion Shin Gekijōban: Q [Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo], scraped me down until I wasn't able to make anything anymore," he added.

The Evangelion creator further stated that the Godzilla: Resurgence project actually allowed him to take a break from the stress of developing the final installment in the Eva remake. After Godzilla, however, Anno assured fans that he is once more ready to take the helm.

"At that time, I went into talks with Toho, and it saved me. I think this is how I'm able to keep making Evangelion. However, since it is a fact that I'm making everyone wait, I deeply apologize for that," he reiterated.

Fans of Evangelion have been waiting eagerly for the last installment of the movie quartet. After the positive reception from the first two movies in the remake, the third movie, which diverged largely from the Evangelion mythos that fans were familiar with, ultimately proved to be a tough sell. Thus, for many, the fourth and final film of the Evangelion remake would be the definitive title which would determine if the remake becomes a success or a massive failure.