Both Mothra and King Kong almost received cyborg upgrades in Godzilla’s movies. A kaiju undergoing a mechanical transformation in the Godzilla franchise is not a unique concept, and one that it’s employed a few times. The foundation for it was laid in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the first film to use technology as an origin story for one of the franchise’s Godzilla villains. The idea was taken a step further in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which memorably introduced Mecha-King Ghidorah.
Following his defeat at the hands of Godzilla, the corpse of Godzilla’s greatest enemy was used to create a cyborg that would fight on behalf of the humans. Gigan, who admittedly already had cyborg elements, got a similar upgrade in Godzilla: Final Wars. Both Mecha-King Ghidorah and Final Wars’ Gigan remain popular versions of their respective counterparts. And had two Godzilla projects turned out differently, the franchise might also boast cyborg incarnations for two of Godzilla’s kaiju allies, one possbily in place of Mecha-King Ghidorah.
Godzilla Almost Fought A Cyborg King Kong (Instead Of Mecha-King Ghidorah)
Like The Monsterverse Kong in GxK, King Kong Almost Received Some Technological ᴀssistance Trom The Humans
Godzilla’s battle with Mecha-King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was a direct follow-up to 1989’s Godzilla vs. Biollante, a movie that was deemed a failure at the box office. According to The Big Book of Giant Japanese Monsters by John LeMay, before settling on Ghidorah as his next opponent, Toho entertained a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Toho creature designer Shinji Nishikawa had a plan for a story in which Godzilla and King Kong would face off with each other for the first time since the 1962 original. At some point in the film, a human scientist would have transformed Kong into a cyborg.
Specific details on what would have transpired haven’t been offered, but Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah provides a few clues. Since it too involved a cyborg transformation for a returning monster, it stands to reason that the film recycled ideas from the cancelled King Kong vs. Godzilla remake. If that’s the case, there’s a good chance Godzilla would have won his first round with Kong, and that this victory is what would have prompted the creation of Kong’s cyborg form. In a way, this concept would have made more sense for the unmade remake, considering that Kong, unlike Ghidorah, was actually accustomed to heroic roles.
“Mecha-Mothra” Nearly Happened In An Early Version Of Godzilla vs. Mothra
Mecha-Mothra Would Have Been One Of The Godzilla Franchise’s Strangest Transformations
It would seem that even after the cyborg idea made it into a Godzilla movie via Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, it remained on the table for future projects. In fact, there were discussions of it happening again, just one year after Mecha-King Ghidorah’s introduction. In 1992, Godzilla returned to battle Mothra and Battra in Godzilla vs. Mothra. As LeMay’s book recounts, Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma said in a 1994 interview that Godzilla vs. Mothra special effects director Koichi Kawakita developed a plan for the next installment to be a direct continuation of that conflict, with Mothra getting the cyborg treatment this time around.
Instead of making another Mothra-focused Godzilla movie, Toho followed up Godzilla vs. Mothra with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.
This idea depended on Godzilla vs. Mothra getting a different ending from what it ultimately got; in the final version of the film, Battra dies, but Mothra lives after sealing away Godzilla. The concept behind Godzilla vs. Mecha-Mothra, on the other hand, called for Mothra to die in the 1992 film, all to position her for a cybernetic resurrection in the sequel. Apparently, getting a cyborg form would have changed her design drastically, as Satsuma claimed she would have looked like a dragonfly in Godzilla vs. Mecha-Mothra. But it was not to be, as Toho opted for Mothra to walk away from the final fight with Godzilla in one piece.
