What We Know About Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Well, it’s an exciting week. It seems that the second trailer for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” will be released this week. Some of us around here and across the web are excited to think that a Godzilla x Kong commercial would run during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11th, but we may get it before the game. Keep your fingers crossed.
The big release date for the return of our favorite MonsterVerse duo is April 12, 2024, so mark it on your calendars. This will be the fifth film in the MonsterVerse, and we have been promised more monsters than the previous films with some new monsters we’ve never seen on the big screen before. Let’s unpack what we know.
A New Look for Godzilla
Godzilla will appear differently in this movie and perhaps it’s because his atomic breath has evolved into something more destructive than in the past. His coloring won’t be the beautiful blue we’ve all come to know but a red hue. Many fans are not happy about this change but I’m willing to give it a chance if it makes the G-Man more powerful. From the first trailer, we can see that Godzilla has evolved and looks thinner and with sharper dorsal fins. We also see that Godzilla emerges from a frozen state and it’s suspected that his evolution came about in order for him to escape his icy prison. How did the kaiju get locked in ice, will the movie tell us the story?
As far as Kong, he appears to look a little older with some silver in his fur. He’ll have on some sort of mechanical arm called the B.E.A.S.T. Glove (Bio Enhanced Anatomic Sysmex Thunder Glove). It’s rumored that Kong was wounded fighting the SCAR King and this glove has been placed on his arm so he can continue to fight with enhanced performance. The question is why do humans want Kong at peak performance?
The Plot of Godzilla x Kong
The Scar King is going to be our antagonist and what a villain he’ll be. His appearance seems to be that of an orangutan and he’s much older and larger than Kong and Godzilla. On the Godzilla fan boards, we suspect that Scar is highly intelligent and has been planning his move to the surface for some time. The trailers reveal that Scar keeps a population of Kongs in Hollow Earth to do slave labor. Not sure what they are doing for Scar, mining resources, building weapons, or just kept for food. A lot of us think that Scar is the reason that Kong’s family was exterminated on Skull Island and he’s unaware that Kong survived. He was made aware of Kong’s existence when Godzilla burned a hole down to Hollow Earth. Now that he knows about Kong and Godzilla, he’s coming to the surface to kill everything. What’s Scar’s endgame and why does he fear Kong?
Shimu is a creature we haven’t seen before. Reported to be much older and larger than Godzilla, it seems that this Titan is ancient and immensely more powerful than Godzilla. Not sure where this kaiju has been all this time, its existence was first alluded to in the Call of Duty game as a cave painting. Shimu in Japanese means “frost” and that is its power, a frostbite blast freezing everything instantly. We can assume that the ancient one is under the control of Scar and in the first trailer we see Scar and Shimu freezing a beach. Is Shimu serving Scar, or does this Titan have its own agenda?
Suko is another new addition to the MonsterVerse. A juvenile, red-furred Kong who will become Kong’s alley seems to resemble the Scar King rather than Kong. At present there isn’t a lot of information on baby Kong. This creature’s origin and its role in the story will hopefully add substance to the story and not just be a Hollywood ploy to get in on those “baby’ creatures of other franchises. What is this character’s significance in the MonsterVerse?
Titanus Doug is back thanks to its adorable little face. He was discovered in Hollow Earth during the last movie. This reptile creature with its brown scaly skin and spikes along its back has been referred to as dog-like. It’s speculated that Doug will be Suko’s pet in some manner. Doug seems to work off basic instinct alone and we all await to see how much screen time he gets this round as he was only seen for four seconds in the last film. The bigger question is why does the audience love this little creature so much?
Leafwings make another appearance in “Godzilla v Kong: The New Empire.” These creepy bat-like flying creatures with their green and brown skin and leaf-like wings will once again wreak havoc in Hollow Earth. We’ve seen these creatures in all of the MonsterVerse movies, and we won’t be disappointed this time. It seems the Leafwings can survive above and below the surface.
Wart Dogs are canine-like monsters that will appear in the upcoming film. This creature is a wolf-like mammal from what we get from the trailers, and no one is sure just what significance, if any, they will play. Possibly they are just introduced to give Kong another obstacle to fight.
Last but not least we must mention Mothera, Queen of the Monsters. Apparently, before her last death, Mothera laid an egg, and keeping with lore she will be reborn as a phoenix, from this egg. I suspect she’ll team up with the G-Man to defeat Scar and Shimu. Reborn with all her past knowledge, will Mothera know how to defeat Shimu?
This film promises lots of monster battles and a new storyline so keep an eye out for the next trailer to premiere this week and let’s hope we see the G-Man during the Superbowl.
I’ll give another update as soon as we know more.