Despite being a headlining attraction in every film, not every Godzilla movie was meant to feature the King of the Monsters. With a cinematic history extending across seven decades, Godzilla has held a wide variety of roles. He’s been the hero, the villain, an anti-hero, and an unwilling pawn of both the human protagonists and the antagonists.
One thing that all of these movies share in common is that he’s is always one of the main selling points, if not the biggest one but alongside one of Godzilla’s many allies. That’s the case even when Godzilla’s name isn’t in the тιтle. That aspect of the franchise demonstrates just how much certain projects had to change in order to be fully realized. After all, there were three Godzilla films that started out as movies about other monsters Quite literally, Godzilla had to be added so that they could find life on the big screen.
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Original Version – Godzilla vs. Frankenstein
The film that launched the iconic Godzilla-King Kong rivalry originally called for the King of Skull Island to fight a different monster. Specifically, he was supposed to do battle with a giant-sized version of Frankenstein’s Monster. That was the idea devised by King Kong creator Willis O’Brien, who officially pitched the concept in 1958. The plan for Godzilla vs. Frankenstein was rewritten by George Worthing Yates, who tweaked the Frankenstein’s Monster character, turning him into a kaiju called “Prometheus.” In the script, King Kong has to save San Francisco by beating Prometheus, a monster mind-controlled by an evil scientist.
Godzilla vs. Prometheus wound up in the hands of producer John Beck, who tried to find a studio that would back the project. No one in Hollywood was interested in making the movie a reality, so Beck turned to Toho, who had developed a reputation for monster flicks. They agreed to make the movie, but unsurprisingly swapped Prometheus with their own flagship monster, Godzilla. Much of the original story is unrecognizable from King Kong vs. Godzilla, but its basic premise owes its existence to King Kong vs. Prometheus nonetheless.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
Original Version – Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah
In 1966’s Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Godzilla gets caught in a sea battle with lobster kaiju Ebirah and the Red Bamboo, a group of villains based on an island. Also on hand was Mothra, who saves the human characters after Godzilla’s victory over Ebirah. But if it wasn’t for some significant script changes, it would have been King Kong – and not Godzilla – that fought the Red Bamboo, Ebirah, and Mothra.
While Operation: Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah never did reach fruition, King Kong eventually did get a second Toho movie. In 1967, Kong battled Mechani-Kong and Gorosaurus in King Kong Escapes.
Prior to the decision to make Godzilla the film’s anti-hero, Toho intended to reuse the King Kong suit from King Kong vs. Godzilla and bring the ape back for a solo film. This would have been in partnership with Rankin-Bᴀss, the holder of Kong’s movie rights at the time. When Rankin-Bᴀss opted against making King Kong vs. Ebirah, Toho had to adjust their plans and subsequently subbed in Godzilla. This resulted in multiple differences, but traces of Kong’s involvement can still be found in the finished product, such as Godzilla having electrical powers, an ability more closely ᴀssociated with Toho’s take on King Kong.
Godzilla vs. Mothra
Original Version – Mothra vs. Bagan
In the early 1990s, there were early plans for a four-part Godzilla movie series that would have incorporated Godzilla, Mothra, and Bagan, a monster who could have been a major addition to Godzilla’s villain lineup. The story was set to begin with Mothra vs. Bagan, which would have laid the groundwork for a sequel wherein Godzilla would fight Bagan. In Mothra vs. Bagan, it would have been established that the two monsters clashed thousands of years ago, and in the present day, it’s up to Mothra to stop the newly-returned Bagan in an intense final battle. A post-credits scene would have triggered Godzilla’s return following his paralysis in Godzilla vs. Biollante.
Toho decided to scrap the story due to the studio’s concerns about the potential box office performance of a non-Godzilla kaiju movie.
Ultimately, Toho decided to scrap the story due to the studio’s concerns about the potential box office performance of a non-Godzilla kaiju movie. However, Toho didn’t abandon the project entirely; instead, Mothra vs. Bagan was used to provide a framework for Godzilla vs. Mothra, with key scenes and some of its characters carrying over to the 1992 movie. Bagan was replaced with Battra, who was envisioned as a counterpart to Mothra. The story was reworked from a one-on-one showdown between two rivals into a three-way conflict between them that Godzilla inadvertently gets in the middle of.
