Recently, Legendary Pictures dropped the trailer for the much awaited battle between 2 behemoths. GODZILLA v KONG promises to be exactly what fans hoped for. It’s an all out brawl to determine the one and true king. So today, we look into the lore of each monster as well as into what we can expect from the film.
ABOUT “GODZILLA v KONG” & THE MONSTERVERSE
This is a much anticipated film since Legendary Pictures announced its own MONSTERVERSE. This is similar to Disney’s MCU and Warner Brothers’ DCEU, in terms of having interconnected films. In this case, the universe began in 2014 with the GODZILLA REBOOT.
The Monsterverse uses MONARCH to set up this universe, shared by all these monsters. Monarch is an organization founded in 1946 to investigate MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms), who’re giant monsters of various shapes and sizes.
These creatures evolved outside of mankind’s influence and live on segregated areas (eg. Kong in Skull Island). Monarch not just studies these creatures but even investigates human encounters with them. Godzilla v Kong marks the 1st time these 2 behemoths meet. Being secluded on Skull Island, Kong isn’t aware of Godzilla, who himself is on the other side of the world.
Additionally, he film points towards the fact that these 2 are the last remaining survivors of their species. Thus, they’ll re-ignite their ages long war, to once and for all finish it. Godzilla seems to be the bad guy in this one as we can see him destroying cities and killing humans. However, this contradicts his own solo films where he kind of, saved the world.
Therefore, this fight between Kong and Godzilla may be due to a misunderstanding, which would ultimately be solved. Consequently, they may even team up to face a bigger villain like MechaGodzilla.
KONG: THE 8th WONDER OF THE WORLD
We get introduced to Kong in 2017’s KONG: SKULL ISLAND. After claims about a 100-ft giant ape in a far off island, Monarch teams up with the US Military for an expedition. Said expedition will be to SKULL ISLAND, where there were last reports of this creature.
According to the local IWI Tribes there, Kong protects them and the island from predators. Local myths say that the SKULLCRAWLERS (a subterranean reptile species) killed Kong’s family ages ago. This war left Kong as the only surviving member of his species. The IWI believe that when he dies, a massive Skullcrawler will emerge and ravage the entire island.
The last we saw of Kong was him allying with the former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad’s team in fighting off Skullcrawlers. This was followed by Kong seeing them go off in the distance after their victory. This brings us to 2020, when Kong is once again required by Monarch, to fight his greatest battle yet. We also see that Kong is extracted out of Skull Island and communicates only with a small IWI girl.
The film teases some connection that Godzilla has, in the war that destroyed Kong and killed his family. Kong has his work cut out for him as on papers, his abilities may not match up to a walking nuke like Godzilla.
GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
We can consider Godzilla to be the godfather of this universe as it’s this franchise that started the Monsterverse. Besides, he has the oldest lore as well. Like Kong, he too lives in a secluded island in the South Pacific around Japan.
Godzilla undoubtedly has seen his own share of battles. In his 2 ventures of the Monsterverse, he has battled Titans from all around the world. In this case, his battles have seen MUTOs as well as Ancient Aliens.
After defeating the MUTOs in 2014, Godzilla returns to the ocean and is dubbed “King of the Monsters”. Without a doubt, this alias is put to the test when Monster Zero is awakened. This monster zero is no one else but ancient alien KING GHIDORAH, who seeks to terra-form the Earth according to him. Godzilla engages with this 3-headed Titan is a battle over Boston. During the process he also has to fight another Titan from Mexico called RODAN, who has submitted to Ghidorah’s rule. With the help of MOTHRA, Godzilla finally gains enough power to defeat the Ancient Titan and reclaim his title of “King of the Monsters”.
Godzilla v Kong however flips the narrative and character arc that Godzilla had in these films. We see him being his evil destructive self, going on a rampage throughout the city. This is the reason MONARCH extracts KONG from Skull Island, to stop Godzilla. What we’re not clear of, is the fact that why he has turned evil. Another question is that if it is the real one or an evil Mecha Godzilla.
FINAL WORDS ON GODZILLA v KONG
Godzilla v Kong is exactly what fans of the franchises expect. A gigantic, everything goes brawl that will level whatever places they’ll fight in. This fight cannot contain itself in just a singe location, which is evident from Kong and Godzilla fighting in the seas, abandoned cities and even Tokyo.
Kong is going to struggle in his initial encounter against Godzilla, considering the latter is a walking nuclear powerhouse. However, the Tokyo Fight scene shows us that Kong works on his weaknesses and goes on to give a better counter to Godzilla. What we still don’t know, is how the humans will factor into all this. We do see a number of people, from government agents to amateur journalists to even ordinary people who’re just here because they share a connection to the titan.
Thus, whether you’re #TeamKong or #TeamGodzilla, you are in for a treat here. You can expect your favorite Monster/Titan to get their own moment to shine. We can also be sure to see a team-up between these 2, to face an even bigger threat. We as fans have waited for this face-off for years………this March, we get it finally. One thing’s for sure, this will be the FIGHT OF THE CENTURY and it’ll be worth it!!!!