While Godzilla vs. Kong brought its Titans together for a showdown decades in the making, Godzilla’s beef with Kong has been surprisingly short-lived. The two briefly faced off to win the coveted title of King of the Monsters, but later put aside their differences to defeat Mechagodzilla. Things aren’t exactly simpatico between Kong and Godzilla in their latest adventure, but Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire knows better than to pit these ancient rivals against each other again.
In Godzilla x Kong, Kong and Godzilla are set to team up once more. Per director Adam Wingard, bringing them together again was always the plan. “As soon as the [last] movie came out and the audiences started to see it, I was like, ‘You just can’t separate these two guys again,’” Wingard recently told IGN. But finding a common enemy for the unlikely duo to unite against forced the Godzilla vs. Kong director and his creative team to think outside the box — and outside of Toho’s iconic monster gallery.
Rather than plucking a recognizable villain from the studio’s back catalog, Godzilla x Kong will be expanding the MonsterVerse with a brand new Kong-related threat. Check him out in the new trailer below.
In addition to Godzilla, Kong, and miscellaneous creatures from previous films, Godzilla x Kong will also introduce a “devilish, Kong-type character” to the MonsterVerse. The mysterious, long-limbed figure from the film’s first teaser now features prominently in the official trailer as an all-new Titan rising to challenge Kong and Godzilla’s joint rule.
“We wanted to come up with an antagonist that would both be a match for Kong and Godzilla, and that’s really hard to do,” Wingard explained. Godzilla, after all, already faced off with the majority of his most well-known adversaries, Ghidorah and Mothra included, in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Kong hasn’t defeated many kaiju by comparison, but the mysterious new villain in Godzilla x Kong seems tailor-made to remedy that. The upcoming film is set to explore Kong’s new domain in the Hollow Earth, and even introduce a new crop of apes just like Kong.
Godzilla x Kong debunks the theory that Kong is the last of his kind, introducing a young, orange-haired protege along with its yet-unnamed adversary. Though Wingard is keeping specific details under wraps, this new monster could reveal a bit more about Kong’s backstory. “There’s a lot more to this character and how he’s a threat, and that’s going to be something that’s going to be fun to kind of dole out,” the director said. We’ll have to wait and see just how these Titans fit into the new empire, but at least we can look forward to another team-up between Godzilla and Kong.
