In the span of just 15 years, three attempts were made to unite Godzilla, Gaira, and Sanda on the big screen, but none were able to pan out. But while efforts to feature the two monsters in a Godzilla movie have seemingly ceased since then, the existence of the Monsterverse creates hope for this meeting to still happen. After all, one of the franchise’s directors – Michael Dougherty- has already endorsed the idea of the pair joining the Monsterverse’s тιтan lineup.

With Sanda as the hero and Gaira as the villain, War of the Gargantuas is remembered as an action-packed classic focused on two genetically engineered giants. Released in 1966, Toho’s War of the Gargantuas has a reputation as one of the best non-Godzilla kaiju movies ever made. But while the story of Sanda and Gaira – known collectively as “the Gargantuas” – works fine as a standalone monster movie, that’s not to say that a crossover wouldn’t be worthwhile. Toho tried in vain three times to make this work. It remains to be seen if another studio – namely Legendary – will ever try to pull off what Toho couldn’t.

Sanda & Gaira’s Three Planned Appearances In Godzilla’s Movies Explained

They Were Cut From All Monsters Attack & Destroy All Monsters

Just one year after headlining War of the Gargantuas in 1966, Sanda and Gaira could have made high-profile returns in the form of Destroy All Monsters. Ultimately released in 1968, Destroy All Monsters notably featured a mulтιтude of monsters from Toho’s kaiju lineup; of course, Godzilla was the centerpiece of the action, but monsters that had yet to become Godzilla’s allies were incorporated as well, such as Manda, Varan, and Baragon. But at one point, Destroy All Monsters was meant to be even bigger, in that it was to include all Toho kaiju, meaning that King Kong, Sanda, and Gaira would have been on hand.

When the script was rewritten to exclude King Kong due to the rights expiring, the Gargantuas were taken out with him. As a result, the pair missed out on the final cut of Destroy All Monsters in 1968, but were back in the picture again when Toho was working on All Monsters Attack, a movie that explored Monster Island in a dream-like adventure story. Using a combination of stock footage and some new material, it showed Godzilla battling several Monster Island inhabitants. According to John LeMay’s The Big Book of Giant Japanese Monsters, some footage was originally planned to bring the Gargantuas and the adult Mothra into the action as well.

Easily the most noteworthy project that was supposed to feature Godzilla and the Gargantuas was meant to come between the Showa and Heisei series. After 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla, there was a nine-year break in the franchise that ended when the studio rebooted the series via Return of Godzilla in 1984. Interestingly, the franchise nearly restarted years earlier, as Toho was looking to bring Godzilla back in 1978. In fact, there was a plan to co-produce a Godzilla-Gargantuas movie with American studio UPA.

This effort was led by producer Henry G. Saperstein. A fan of War of the Gargantuas, Saperstein wanted to make a movie that would see Godzilla encounter both Sanda and Gaira. Various rumors surround the story details, so it’s unclear what the plot would have been. That said, it is known that Godzilla vs. Gargantua was intended to be a $6 million production. But in the end, Toho elected not to move forward with the revival of the Godzilla franchise at that time.

How A Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Easter Egg Could Be Used To Introduce Sanda & Gaira In The Monsterverse

King Of The Monsters May Have Hinted At Sanda & Gaira’s Origin

Supposing Legendary Pictures endeavors to resurrect the Gargantuas in the Monsterverse, it could do so by acting on a seed planted in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It may have been included specifically for that purpose, considering that the fim’s director, Michael Dougherty named the Gargantuas as the kaiju he’d be most eager to adapt if given the chance [via X]. Spotted among the newspaper clippings in the credits was a curious line about Monarch’s activities: “De La Rosa went on to claim that Monarch was not only developing this mechanizing giant on Skull Island, but had already tried to create organic тιтans in the past, and they are the cause of several recent тιтan incidents.”

The creation of “organic тιтans” is the most important concept that the Monsterverse would need if it were to introduce Sanda and Gaira. Both are essentially Toho’s interpretations of Frankenstein’s Monster, so it stands to reason that this core aspect of their origin would carry over to the Monsterverse. Like their Toho counterparts, it seems likely that they would be genetically engineered by scientists. It’s possible that someone at Monarch either created or will create Sanda and Gaira using тιтan DNA at some point in the Monsterverse timeline.

How A Godzilla Story With The Gargantuas Could Work In The Monsterverse

Godzilla Could Team Up With Sanda In The Monsterverse

A project in which Gargantuas are created by Monarch would come equipped with a great deal of storytelling potential. ᴀssuming that it stays true to their original roles, it’s likely one of the genetically engineered тιтans (Gaira) will be a disaster, and the other (Sanda) will be their saving grace. If that’s the case, Sanda could become an ally to Godzilla in the final battle against Gaira, or whatever тιтan is chosen as the movie’s main antagonist. Sanda developing heroic qualities as it finds its idenтιтy could be an important and moving subplot for the movie to explore.

Since the Monsterverse has yet to introduce a genetically engineered creature yet, the two would certainly be unique additions to its universe. It would also help the Monsterverse avoid another repeat of the ancient rivalry trope, which has been integral to all of Godzilla’s Monsterverse movies to date. Gaira could be the first Godzilla villain in the Monsterverse to not have a history as one of his ancient enemies.

To head in this direction would be a continuation of a wider Monsterverse theme. An idea, which is actually rooted in Godzilla’s older movies, is that humanity itself is responsible for most of the world’s problems. Up until Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s ending, all of the major threats that Godzilla averted were set in motion – in one way or another – by the humans. That was true with the MUTOs, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla. Having a genetically engineered тιтan as a main villain in a Monsterverse movie would be entirely consistent with that approach.