Straight From Comic-Con, Legendary Films Has Announced That Godzilla 2 Will Be Happening, And Piling

The Godzilla Sequel Will Feature Mothra, Rodan And King Ghidorah!

Straight from Comic-Con, Legendary Films has announced that Godzilla 2 will be happening, and piling on the classic kaiju — including Godzilla's pals Mothra and Rodan, as well as his three-headed archenemy King Ghidorah! Can't. Wait.

Well, that was even more unexpected than the last news.  All I can say is that I hope Legendary is prepared for the consequences. Sure, this seems like a great idea on paper, but given the previous comments by the director and screenwriter, it seems that Legendary has forced themselves into a deadly trap.

Both Gareth Edwards and Max Borenstein have stated their desire to keep Godzilla "realistic", leaving out the more fantastical elements of the original series.  If this was ever their true intention, than Mothra was the absolute worst choice of monster.

Since her film debut, Mothra has always been portrayed as a mystical entity, inexplicable by science and pseudoscience alike.  A major part of the character is her fairy like element, whether it be sparkling magic dust or a pair of miniature helpers.  Rebooting the character as a beast of science is simply an exercise in futility, in the same league as making Godzilla look like a realistic dinosaur.  Creating a version of Mothra that both fits the established doctrine and pleases the fans will be one of the greatest challenges Legendary has to face.

Rodan, on the other hand, is a lot simpler.  He has a very similar backstory to Godzilla, so all Legendary has to give him the same treatment they gave the King of the Monsters, keep the basic design the same but ground it slightly.  (As much as I respect the work of Mark Witton, I don't think the world is ready for a Rodan like this.)

As you may have guessed from my previous thoughts on a sequel, I'm more than glad that King Ghidorah will be in the sequel.  However, my previous thoughts on the creature involved him as the sole antagonist. Having to share the scene with three other monsters could drastically effect Ghidorah's role, and not necessarily for the better.  Ghidorah works best as an ultimate threat, a creature capable of taking on multiple kaiju with the use of his multiple heads, immense size, and myriad powers.  Whenever he is relegated to the position of "just" another kaiju, his appearance is not well received by fans.  A perfect example is GMK, where the multi-headed monster is pulled out of his element and recast as one of three benevolent guardians, all of which are weaker than a now malevolent Godzilla.  As result, King Ghidorah his notable height advantage and, temporarily, his ability to breath lighting, changes that were met with little enthusiasm from fans. Reports of the preview made it sound like all of the Toho kaiju were also creatures from prehistory.  While this works perfectly well for Rodan and to a lesser extent Mothra, Ghidorah is usually known as a creature from beyond this Earth, or at least the future.  The one time he was a terrestrial creature was GMK, which as previously mentioned was not his finest appearance.  Another reason to be cautious of a earth-bound Ghidorah is the consequences it would have on his appearance.  A lack of space origin may tempt creature designers to remove some of Ghidorah's more distinct characteristics, and transform him in to the generic Hollywood dragon he does not deserve to be.

With the monsters established, its time to speculate on the plot.  Gareth Edwards mentioned wanting to do a Destroy All Monsters style plot, but unless there are more monsters to be reveal, the roster is looking slightly thin for that kind of story.  Plus, the original Destroy All Monsters used Alien Mind Control as a major plot device, something that wouldn't mesh well with the intentions of the new movies creators.  One Plot that I hope they don't indulge in is a generic monster free for all.  As said before, King Ghidorah doesn't lend himself well to even fights between multiple monsters, and Legendary would do well to establish him as more of a primary antagonist, particularly given the demeanor of the other kaiju in the roster.  As I said in my previous post, there is very little reason for two Guardians like Mothra and Godzilla to have an extended battle.  A fight between Godzilla and Rodan makes somewhat more sense: both are territorial creature that may wish the other ill.  With this in mind, I can easily see Legendary going down the route of the previous movie to have this lineup.

Of course, the some plot elements are bound to be different.  Godzilla is already benevolent at the beginning of the movie, Mothra's imago form will likely appear, and the body snatching woman from Venus subplot will probably be dropped.  However, the basic idea of three monsters against Ghidorah is sound.  It worked in 1965 and it will still work for a modern Hollywood reboot, a classic tale re-imagined.  As far as relations to the 2014 film, it would probably be wise to drop all character except for those in Monarch.  None of the leads, with the exception of Bryan Cranston, were very interesting, and it would be best to turn over a new leaf.  With the need to establish three new monsters, all with major fan followings, it would also be wise to increase the amount of monster action.  A slow build and minimal monster presence worked in the first movie, but it would feel tedious a second time, particularly with four kaiju heavies clamoring for screen time.

With this ambitious announcement, I feel that Legendary may have flown too close to the sun, and are now plummeting towards imminent disaster.  My only advice is this.  Abandon all pretense of realistic kaiju, go nuts and give us incarnations of Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah that do the characters justice.  The most interesting development in the 2014 Godzilla was returning the character to the heroic role he hasn't had since 1975.  The new film, for all its dramatic posturing, honestly had an upbeat tone and childlike sense of wonder, more subtle than Pacific Rim, but undeniably there.  Legendary should embrace the inherent silliness of the series and do whatever is necessary to make an entertaining brawl between series giants, or be torn to pieces by angry fans.

This has always been one of my favorite size charts because it really shows the contrast in scale between Showa and Heisei monsters.  It's one thing to be told that Godzilla is now much larger, and quite another to see him visibly towering over his former friends and foes.

Holy Shit how did I forget about THIS?

Award winning scene from Takao Okawara’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993).

I’ve never been a fan of Final War’s top heavy, anthropomorphized, overly slim DBZesque design philosophy, notably in Gigan and Monster X.  However, I was fine with the Godzilla suit because while it streamlined him it didn’t go too far.  He’s less bulky but he’s still basically the same mountainous shape, and there’s a lot of the late Showa spirit in the design.

These designs reveal that it was originally the same as the others, with arguably worse execution.  The first one looks downright emaciated.  I’d wouldn’t trust a regular sized dinosaur to hold up its own weight on that tiny waist, let alone one the size of a skyscraper.  I’m having a genuinely hard time deciding whether this or Zilla is a worse redesign of the King of the Monsters (Sure would have made their fight scene awkward).  I’d be interested to know how far these made it into the design process, or if they were ever genuinely considered (The style is definitely similar to some of the other designs).

Concept art for a redesigned Godzilla, for Godzilla: Final Wars (2004).

Obviously King Ghidorah’s greatest appearance was in Zone Fighter

There seems to be some argument as to which of King Ghidorah's Showa movie is the greatest, Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster or Monster Zero? If you'd rather cast the vote for Destroy All Monsters or Godzilla vs. Gigan then do it.

My heart lies with Invasion of (the) Astro-Monster(s)/Monster Zero. I grew up watching the English dub and it remains a favourite to this day.

I don't think Godzilla is a species so much as the creatures that become him, named the rather dry Godzillasaurus in the Heisei continuity.  Their never seem to be more than a couple Godzillas each continuity, so I doubt there's a large breeding population anymore.

So if Godzilla died in the original film, does that mean Godzilla is more of a species name or did he come back to life somehow?

I think of it more as a mantle passed down. I think having it as a species name takes away from Godzilla’s individuality as a character, and I’ve never really liked the idea more than one adult Godzilla existing at the same time.