Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami II are still trapped inside Eva 01 after 14 years since 2.0, the remnants of SEELE and Nerv suspend Unit 01 in space and have artifical Angels guard it from Will-E (or Wille, whatever). Will-E being the splinter group Misato Katsuragi formed to stop SEELE and Nerv's (Gendou's) plans of Human Instrumentality Project, it consists of most of the former Nerv staff and new people. They built a flying battleship (looks like the skeleton of Lilith made out of various parts), I'm guessing it's Misato's flagship of her Will-E fleet, and they need something to power it. The only thing powerful enough is Eva Unit 01 which is in space and guarded by artifical SEELE Angels, but they're (Will-E) determined to recover it. Misato sends Asuka Langley Shikinami and Mari Makinami Illustrious out to recover Unit 01 in a modified Eva Unit 02 (it was practically annihilated at the end of 2.0 after the battle with Zeruel) and the newly introduced Eva Unit 08. Asuka battled the artificial Angels head on as Mari provided firing support, but they were getting beaten back (as a side note, Asuka calls Mari "Glasses" and Mari calls Asuka "Princess", also Asuka said Shinji's name a couple of times during the fight) until Asuka screams "Where's Stupid Shinji when you need him?!" and "DO SOMETHING STUPID SHINJI!" to which Eva Unit 01 shoots a beam that destroys all the Angels and leaves Asuka in shock; disbelief that he seemingly responded. Eva Unit 01 along with Eva Unit 02 and Eva Unit 08 enter Earth's atmosphere as Kaworu Nagisa looks up at Unit 01 and says "Welcome back, Shinji Ikari". The people at Will-E work to revive Shinji from his 14 years of slumber inside Eva Unit 01, will Misato asking for conformation and that if they put the DSS Choker (basically a remote-controlled explosive collar) on the Third Child. Shinji sees Misato and is happy to see her, until he notices the collar and tries to fiddle with it, trying to remove it. He asks what the collar is for. "What is this thing?!" No response. "Please take it off already!!" This time Misato responds, "That's never going to be taken off". After the interview and evaluation of Shinji, Misato instructs he be put in quarantine. Unknown objects enter the radar and Misato tells everyone to go to battle stations, thinking it's the remnants of SEELE's artificial Angels that were guarding Unit 01. Asuka and Mari are returning with Eva Unit 01 from space as well as pursuing SEELE Angels . Shinji notices the mention of Asuka's name and demands to pilot Unit 01 because it is here now, so he can go help Asuka. Misato tells him he isn't needed anymore. "Don't you need me to pilot Eva 01, Misato?!" "That's right. There's no need for you to pilot Eva." "No need?.. Then, um, what should I do? Misato!" "Shinji Ikari. You... just.. don't do anything". Later, Shinji is accepted an audience with the vice-chief (Ritsuko Akagi) and he asks about Unit 01. "Eva-01 is being used as the main engine of this ship. You being a pilot is unnecessary." "Ah, so I'm really not needed." "Also, your sync test results have come back. The sync rate is 0.00%. Even if you were to board the Eva, it wouldn't activate". Also she talks about the risk of ever letting him into the Eva again, the possibility of it 'Awakening' like at the end of 2.0. Assumeably , if he gets back in it, they're afraid he may start Fourth Impact as Third Impact was barely avoided by the intervention of Kaworu. He then asks about the DSS Choker and why it is on him. "Safety for us. It's a physical safety device to avoid Awakening." "And it is also a symbol of your punishment." "What does it do?" "If you lose control of your emotions while piloting an Eva and become unable to suppress the risk of Awakening, this will intervene by terminating your life." "Does that mean... I will die?" "I will not deny that." "No way..." Shinji is confused and doesn't understand why all this is happening, or even what's been really going on up to this point. "Misato, what is this about dying?" "This is weird, Misato-san! Suddenly it's all so confusing and I don't understand anything!" to which Misato tells him "It can't be helped that you're confused. Second Lieutenant.", to which a young woman steps up. She explains to Shinji that she is the medical officer in charge (presumably over him), 2nd Lt. Sakura Suzuhara and that it was nice to finally meet him. "But, Suzuhara... Toji's?" "Ah, yes. You've helped my big brother. I'm his little sister Sakura." "Little sister? Don't you mean big sister?" "Yes, his little sister." "L-little sister...? How?" He gets the answer from Asuka, who walks in uninvited. "14 years have passed since then. Stupid Shinji". Shinji is further confused, not by how much time has passed per say, but Asuka herself. As he greets her warmly, "Huh? Ah, Asuka!" "Thank god. You're safe, Asuka!", she replies "I can't stand this. I've been holding this in." and smashes a nearby window, breaking it. Shinj is taken aback by her actions; her attitude towards him. "What was that about..." to which Asuka responds "Built up anger and grief". "What do you mean...? Ah, Asuka, your left eye..." "None of your business." "Asuka, you said it's been 14 years, but the only thing that's changed about you is that eyepatch". Shinji was expecting Asuka to look 14 years older than when he last saw her, given that it has been some time. Asuka explains why that's not the case as if she were talking to an ignorant child. "Right. It's the Eva's Curse." "Curse?" As Shinji wonders about this curse Asuka turns to leave. He calls after her. "Wait! Asuka, maybe you know! Where's Ayanami?!" "Dunno." "You don't know...? But I saved her!" Asuka is now extremely annoyed at Shinji, "All this fuss over just one person." "This world doesn't have time to cater to your ego." "Isn't that right, Captain Katsuragi?" She exits the room. "Asuka!" Shinji calls after her but she is already gone and turns to Misato, asking about Rei II. "Misato, where's Ayanami? Please, tell me!" "Shinji, Rei Ayanami no longer exists." "No, I saved her, I know I did." "She must be in Eva-01's plug. Please, search for her!" "We've already conducted a thorough sweep of Eva-01. We only found you." "And for some reason, this was restored." Misato unveils Shinji's audio playback device. "The inspection yielded no problems. We'll return it." "My father's... Ayanami was holding it then." "So I saved her, didn't I?" Before the conversation can go any further, a shock-wave rocks the battleship. Misato gets a call from one of her subordinates, someone on rear deck. "Target is on the rear deck! It suddenly closed in on us!" to which Misato answers back, "The favorite has appeared, huh!" Rei Ayanami IX had come to retrieve Shinji Ikari from Will-E.

From this, I gather a few things. One, is that Misato is guilt-ridden about encouraging Shinji to "Do it for yourself! Do it because you want to!" at saving Rei II at the end of Evangelion 2.0. Obviously, she nor anyone else besides perhaps Gendou, Kaji, Kaworu, SEELE, Ritsuko, and Fuyutsuki knew doing so would end up causing Third Impact. She most likely partially blames herself but instead vents her guilt out on Shinji. Since he was in Eva Unit 01 for those 14 years and basically didn't age in any way, shape, or form; he's still the same Shinji at the end of 2.0 when revived fully in 3.0. Confused about the, for him, sudden change of events, he doesn't know why Misato has resentment for him as well along with the rest of the members of Will-E. He is further off-put by being told he is no longer needed for anything and the fact that they locked an explosive collar around his neck. Finding no confinement in Misato or Ritsuko, even from Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru, he goes to fellow Eva Pilot Asuka. Asuka, herself holding it what seems like 14 years of grief and sorrow, releases it upon seeing Shinji. She is annoyed to even glance in his direction and smashes a window when first seeing his face. It is to be noted, Asuka had 14 more years time to grow, at least mentally, than Shinji. She now views him as a nuisance and bad scar upon her memory. To me, in actuality, she doesn't want to be reminded of him; the feelings she has towards him. This is expressed (somewhat) when she angrily and childishly storms out the room after smashing the window, being approached by Mari about the incident as they are preparing to stop Rei from getting to Shinji. "By the way, how was Puppy Boy?" "Is he obediently staying put?" "Nothing's changed about his stupid lowly face." "Oh, so you went to go see his face, did you?" "No! It's awful! I hit him!" "I feel much better now!" Really, I think this is her way of expressing her joy and comfort at seeing him again after all these years, still the same Shinji she loves. As for Rei, the Rei (Rei II) from 2.0 is seemingly dead and the new Rei (Rei IX) is a blank slate, not having any or failing to remember any, memories from the previous Rei. Only following orders, nothing more, until later she questions who she really is and who she really was. Mari is still Mari, Kaworu is somewhat different. Apart from having a lot more screen time, practically the whole movie, he has more human emotions that he displays. I won't go into them or anything past the first 30 minutes though. About Mari, I wonder about her, she has some agenda of her own, but so far she isn't acting on it or showing in any clear way that she is. Anyway, that's what I gather from this first 30 minutes of Evanglion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo and happily await to own it when it is officially released on home video.