Godzilla’s $2.5B Franchise Is One Wrong Choice Away From A Fight It Can’t Win

Speculation about the plot of Godzilla X Kong: Supernova continues to swirl, but there’s one major story angle that they need to avoid at all costs or else they’ll find themselves in the midst of an unwinnable battle. Despite the sixth movie in the ever-expanding Monsterverse not hitting theaters until March 2027, production is already well underway.

Casting details for GxK: Supernova have continued to trickle in over the previous months, but there still hasn’t been anything revealed when it comes to the movie’s plot, or what the subтιтle ‘Supernova‘ is alluding to. Theories continue to evolve, although the most popular is still that the тιтle refers to the advent of SpaceGodzilla.

Whether it’s SpaceGodzilla, another Toho monster, or a Monsterverse original, introducing a proper villain would be in the Monsterverse’s best interest. There has been some speculation that Godzilla could actually be the villain in Godzilla X Kong: Supernova, with the subтιтle referring to Godzilla absorbing too much power and needing to be stopped.

Making Godzilla a true antagonist, as opposed to the situational adversary that he acted as in Godzilla vs. Kong, would be a mistake for Legendary. A dark or evil Godzilla would be a new direction for the Monsterverse, but it would inevitably invite comparisons that could be devastating for the Monsterverse’s perception.

The Monsterverse Can’t Do A Dark Godzilla Better Than Toho

Both Godzilla Minus One And Shin Godzilla Are Masterpieces

If the Monsterverse chose to make Godzilla a true villain, they would inevitably invite comparisons to the other ongoing Godzilla franchise in the moviesphere, Godzilla Minus One. The Academy Award-winning visual triumph has been considered by many to be the definitive version of Godzilla since the 1954 original, as it effectively imbues Godzilla with all the horror of a nuclear holocaust.

As if the emotional depth of Godzilla’s terror and the powerful human story of Godzilla Minus One weren’t enough of an obstacle for the Monsterverse, Toho has reportedly resurrected an entirely different Goji franchise. The latest information from Toho indicates that they’re looking to expand Godzilla’s sizable footprint around the globe, and that includes a potential sequel for another type of Godzilla.

Legendary’s MonsterVerse – Key Details

Movie/TV Show

Release Date

Budget

Box Office Gross

RT Tomatometer Score

RT Popcornmeter Score

Godzilla

2014

$160 million

$529.1 million

76%

66%

Kong: Skull Island

2017

$185 million

$568 million

76%

70%

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

2019

$200 million

$387.3 million

42%

83%

Godzilla vs. Kong

2021

$200 million

$470.1 million

76%

91%

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

2023

N/A

N/A

86%

77%

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

2024

$150 million

$572.3 million

54%

89%

Before Godzilla Minus One took the world by storm, Shin Godzilla terrified Japanese audiences with an ultra-mᴀssive, keloid-scarred version of Big G. A true body horror movie, Shin Godzilla showed Godzilla at his most destructive, and his most unsettling; after evolving through several different hideous growth stages, his largest form has a jaw that unhinges and a mouth that splits to deliver untold carnage.

Both the Godzilla Minus One and Shin Godzilla versions of Godzilla perfectly capture him at his most diabolical, and his most overtly metaphorical. They pay homage to Godzilla’s nuclear origins, and effectively modernize the horror of his original iteration.

The Monsterverse would be downright foolish to try their own version of a villainous Godzilla. The overarching narrative has gone way too far down the Hollow Earth hole to ever give Godzilla a grave reason for attacking humanity on par with “vengeance for nuclear corruption”, so any motivation he was given would look weak and ineffective in comparison.

A villainous Godzilla would immediately draw comparisons to the two Toho Godzilla franchises, and as fun as they are, the Monsterverse movies simply don’t hold a candle to either Toho product when it comes to narrative strength. Legendary would be far better off using one of their other original тιтans or borrowing a classic Toho villain rather than have Godzilla execute a heel turn.

The Monsterverse Is Great At Showing Godzilla’s Heroic Side

It Provides A Heroic Angle That’s An Essential Part Of His Character

Godzilla Facing Off Against a MUTO from Godzilla 2014.

Fortunately, the Monsterverse has the heroic side of Godzilla effectively cornered. While the sequel to Godzilla Minus One will likely pit Godzilla against another monster, it will be almost impossible for that movie to paint Godzilla as anything more than an antihero at best. The Monsterverse, on the other hand, has set Big G up as a true defender of the planet.

Ever since his emergence in 2014, the Monsterverse’s Godzilla has been called into action to stop тιтans bent on global destruction. After reᴀsserting his dominance as the planet’s true Alpha тιтan at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla has had a few questionable moments of destructive behavior (RIP Tiamat) but he’s never intentionally threatened humanity itself.

All that making Godzilla a villain really does is set the Monsterverse up to come up short of Toho’s two dark iterations of the iconic character.

The beauty of Godzilla’s character is that there are so many different sides to him, each just as valid as the last. He began as a nuclear metaphor and source of horror, then slowly evolved into a family-friendly, cartoonish guardian, before being reset as an on-again, off-again threat to the world.

The Monsterverse version is one part kaiju, one part superhero, and that’s just as acceptable as Shin Godzilla‘s nightmarish monster. Godzilla’s adaptability is a significant part of why his character has been so enduring. There are so many lenses through which to view Godzilla, and he’s been effectively reframed as needed.

Godzilla X Kong: Supernova can move in plenty of different directions, but the path that it absolutely can’t go down is making Godzilla a villain. He’s too important to the Monsterverse as a hero, and all it really does is set the Monsterverse to come up short of Toho’s two dark iterations of the iconic character.

Related Posts

The Two Highest-Grossing WW2 Movies Ever Share The Same Director & Four Actors

The Two Highest-Grossing WW2 Movies Ever Share The Same Director & Four Actors

One director has cracked the formula for creating commercially successful World War II movies, and he’s managed to scoop countless awards in the process. For decades, Steven…

Christian Bale’s Most Extreme Body Transformation Was For This 2019 Movie & Nobody Talks About It

Christian Bale’s Most Extreme Body Transformation Was For This 2019 Movie & Nobody Talks About It

As much as he’s known for being a great actor, Christian Bale is also widely known as someone willing to drastically change his body for roles, yet…

Roger Ebert Hailed This Clint Eastwood Movie As An “Elegy” To The Western Genre, But He Was Only Half-Right

Roger Ebert Hailed This Clint Eastwood Movie As An “Elegy” To The Western Genre, But He Was Only Half-Right

Clint Eastwood is a Western icon, so it makes sense that he would deliver the movie that was seen as a farewell to the Western genre with…

John Wick 5’s New Era Should Bring Back A Short-Lived Villain Who Didn’t Get The Chance To Shine

John Wick 5’s New Era Should Bring Back A Short-Lived Villain Who Didn’t Get The Chance To Shine

Even though John Wick 5 is still years out at this point, there is plenty to speculate about, especially considering the recent news that the film is…

Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 Is Likely To Break The First Movie’s Record After New Streaming Data

Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 Is Likely To Break The First Movie’s Record After New Streaming Data

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a mᴀssive hit when it came to theaters in 2023. Starring A-list actors like Chris Pratt and Jack Black in voice…

10 Fantasy Movies We Can’t Live Without

10 Fantasy Movies We Can’t Live Without

Fantasy films provide a form of escapism not found in any other genre, but there are only a handful of fantasy movies that are indispensable. Whether they’re…