If we’re supposed to believe all the Monsterverse films share the same DNA, then the slow reveal about an ancient civilization as Earth’s true guardians must hint at a greater plot. Now that the latest film Godzilla X King Kong is leaving theatres, I can offer some thoughts after repeated views. I’m willing to support this film franchise for so long, and hope it can be steered back to what it was.
When Gareth Edwards made his 2014 film, all he wanted to do was to make a movie that is a love letter to TOHO. His take had Yoshimitsu Banno‘s blessing and I’m sure the later instalments did not. This Japanese studio sent this director (best known for Godzilla vs Hedorah) to look at how Japan’s most iconic antihero, would be remade for American sensitivities. Back then, what he saw excited him. The idea of creating a shared universe didn’t happen right away and this film was considered a modest success before the King Kong movie revealed a greater concept. Michael Dougherty and Adam Wingard‘s take is decent enough where it made enough callbacks to the ol’ classic style, but it’s not as well thought out as Edward’s vision.
On the Reddit forums, Unnecessary_Fella best sums up what could’ve been the spectacle had it remained with one director. It’d just be a trilogy and nothing more. Godzilla is not a force of nature. Nor can he exist as the only guardian of a planet. Mothra holds that key and Netflix’s animated films do a better job at this concept. Since he’s not always a manifestation about some disaster that occurred (Fukushima for example), I just had to wonder why I loved watching this American take. It simply lies in seeing who this monster can beat up next.
A long time ago, many Titans ruled the earth, and for a fleeting moment, I wondered if what’s being planned hints that Legendary Picture’s Clash of the Titans (2010) and Wrath of the Titans (2012) belong to the same multiverse. When considering this remake is a Legendary/Warner Bros property, is there something the producers are not telling us? Although that movie didn’t live up to expectations and is not part of the Monsterverse, I can’t help but wonder, especially if I’m to consider everything I know about classical classical mythology. When the most famous beasts are spiritual icons, could there be a connection?
After the walls of Tartarus broke to unleash all kinds of horrors known as Titans onto the world, I’m sure some of them left the Mediterranean to take up residence elsewhere. In the Monsterverse, they simply settled into other domains where the locals worshipped them. The films say many prehistoric civilizations lived alongside them. Later on, when conflict arose, the humans and beasts parted ways. It’s possible aliens visiting (who would later be recognised as gods) helped rein in some beasts, and they were allowed to stay, as long as they mostly slept. This theory can work to explain why a handful of creatures still live on the surface world.
Even as I continued to wonder why Kong visited Egypt and the Bermudas, I figured some archaeological answer had to be lurking somewhere. And with Godzilla stomping through Gibraltar, which was once known as the Pillars of Hercules, I’m sure the location choice was intentional! When considering he was known as Dagon, I would not be surprised if he’s been given another name in the past.
As for Baphomet and Quetzalcoatl, who haven’t been killed, I want them to have an adventure too! Tiamat bit the dust, and I’d be disappointed if the power vacuum created doesn’t open the next film. The radioactive reptile ejected all that extra energy and it’s possible to see it manifest into Space Godzilla.
I don’t buy into the possibility that these figures exist because an art department took inspiration from a book. There has to be a method to the madness instead of figuring out what the screenplay meant. I doubt it simply stated: “In the background, there are many monsters escaping from Pandora’s box.”
If this second fan theory of mine rings true, I’d say what’s coming next will live up to the name Legendary Pictures is famous for. There’ll be a new conflict, and it’ll involve various types of Titans trying to establish a new status quo on the surface world known as Earth. We know Kong rules Hollow Earth, but for the world man lives in, it’s a Jurassic Kingdom waiting for someone to take the crown.
