An unmade King Kong vs. Godzilla sequel promised a fight that the Monsterverse now has an opportunity to deliver, even if it’ll be several decades late. For years, the 1962 film remained the sole project to feature both the King of the Monsters and the King of Skull Island. But since 2021, there’s been two additional films to pit the two against each other. What’s more, another will arrive in 2026 in the form of an unтιтled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire sequel.
The numbers of movies Godzilla and Kong will have made together by 2026 is astounding, when looking at what came before. Other than King Kong vs. Godzilla, Toho – the owners of Godzilla – only produced one other King Kong movie when it held the rights to the monster. It had other plans for him as well, but none were followed through on. But thanks to the Monsterverse’s movies, some of the ideas it had could finally reach fruition, especially since it’s been comparably more successful in getting the two monsters to share the big screen.
Toho Almost Made A King Kong vs. Godzilla Movie Featuring A Giant Scorpion
The Giant Scorpion Was An Apparent Replacement For The Octopus In King Kong vs. Godzilla
King Kong featured in two Toho films during the five-year stretch that the studio had access to the character. In addition to the classic King Kong vs. Godzilla, he also headlined King Kong Escapes alongside Gorosaurus and Mechani-Kong. Between these movies, he was also meant to appear in Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla. As indicated by the тιтle, it would have been a direct sequel to the 1962 crossover that notably ended in Godzilla’s defeat. Presumably in an effort to offer some action that would help ease the slow setup for the rematch at the climax of the film, Continuation called for the introduction of a scorpion monster.
Similar to how King Kong vs. Godzilla saw King Kong battle a giant octopus, the sequel was to preface the two тιтular monsters’ showdown with a fight between Kong and a lesser enemy. This time around, the foe in question would have been a giant scorpion. Using its stinger, it would have targeted Kong’s throat, only to have his tail grabbed by the ape. Unsurprisingly, the battle would have concluded with King Kong emerging triumphant and killing the scorpion.
It’s not clear why the movie was abandoned, but the scorpion fight in itself could be a clue.
Of course, the fight never came to pᴀss. That, along with the planned rematch between Godzilla and Kong and most other aspects of the film were scrapped when the project was cancelled. It’s not clear why it was abandoned, but the scorpion fight itself could be a clue. As previously noted, it was quite similar to the octopus battle in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and the same can be said for several other story beats in the treatment. So, as John LeMay’s The Big Book of Giant Japanese Monster Movies: The Lost Films points out, it may very well be that Toho deemed the film to be a bit too repeтιтive.
How Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Seemingly Set Up A Scorpion тιтan
A Scorpion тιтan May Dwell Beneath An Ancient Temple In Turkey
Curiously, the Monsterverse version of King Kong may actually co-exist with a giant scorpion. The redacted text of Godzilla: King of the Monsters concealed a set of coordinates: 37.21870, 38.855563. These coordinates are for Gobleki Tepe, an archaeological site in Turkey. Gobleki Tepe is widely believed to be one of the oldest known temple on the planet, having been constructed approximately 12,000 years ago. Found on the ruins of the temple are depictions of a scorpion, which provide a hint as to the coordinates’ significance in the Monsterverse.
It’s possible that the ancient people of Turkey were aware of a scorpion тιтan that resided in the region. This could explain why the temple was erected in the first place. It’s already known via King of the Monsters that тιтans were worshiped by humans, so it’s not implausible that in the Monsterverse, the temple was meant to be a place where humans paid tribute to the scorpion тιтan, who may have been a god in their minds.
As for whether this тιтan should be counted as a threat, the line that followed the coordinates reveal in King of the Monsters does indeed suggest that the creature should be regarded as a malevolent force: “But how long will it take for the fires to awaken…and send our own civilization into collapse?” Unless the coordinates were just randomly inserted into these messages, it stands to reason that the line is a warning about something found at that location.
Godzilla x Kong’s Sequel Could Honor The Canceled Movie’s King Kong Fight
Will Kong Fight A Scorpion тιтan In The Monsterverse?
Anything that has the potential to send “civilization into collapse” feels like a prime candidate for a villain role in a future Monsterverse movie. It could be, like so many other тιтans in the Monsterverse, the mystery scorpion monster is hibernating beneath the place where it was once worshipped milennia ago. Recent events in the Monsterverse timeline, or perhaps something that occurs at the start of the Godzilla x Kong sequel, could result in the creature finally waking up. If so, this could trigger the seemingly catastrophic event referenced in Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ ending.
If the scorpion тιтan burrows its way into Kong’s Hollow Earth world, it could find itself in a fight with its alpha. Such a conflict could technically be used to drive the story of the sequel, but that’s only if it lives up to the villainous potential promised for it by King of the Monsters. Alternatively, the Monsterverse could use it as one of several monster fights to precede the final battle. Godzilla x Kong, for instance, featured a handful of battles leading up to Godzilla and Kong’s team-up against Shimo and Skar King. The scorpion тιтan could fulfill the same purpose, which perfectly fall in line with what Toho originally had planned for Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla.
A scorpion villain serving as an opponent to Kong would be an interesting course for the movie to take, and not because it would pay homage to a cancelled Godzilla-King Kong crossover. There’s also the fact that there’s never been a giant scropion in the Godzilla franchise. Over the years, Godzilla and his allies have fought all manner of monsters inspired by real animals. He’s clashed with a giant lobster (Ebirah), a cockroach (Megalon), a vulture, praying mantises (Kamacuras), and a spider (Kumonga), just to name a few. But one thing the Godzilla series has never entertained is a scorpion, and in that respect, the Monsterverse could facilitate a franchise first.
