After just four blockbuster films, the newest reboot of the beloved Godzilla multimedia empire seems to be lying dormant. After the original Kaiju’s landmark battle with King Kong, it may seem like escalation is impossible, but there’s still room for these massive beasts in the hearts of the fan base.
After Legendary Pictures andThe Raid: RedemptiondirectorGareth Edwards rebootedGodzillain 2014, fans were buzzing to see where the new universe could go. They brought back the great ape inKing Kong: Skull Island, let him face off against some of his iconic enemies inKing of the Monstersand pit the icons against each other once and for all inGodzilla vs. Kong. After all that excitement, there’s an anime on the way anda currently unknown live-action showin the works, but no new films have been announced.
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There are over thirtyGodzillafilms created in Japan, divided into four eras with drastically different aesthetics and tones. Godzilla has faced off against countless enemy kaiju,some of whom have gone on to become fan favorites, others of whom faded as quickly as they appeared. With everything the classic monster has accomplished, it’s fair to describe Godzilla as one of the most enduringly popular IPs in history. There was a time when the idea of an AmericanGodzillafilm would have been laughed out of the room. In fact, the first attempt at the idea was so bad that a later Japanese film killed that iteration off mid-film. The new American takes onGodzillaand his retinueare altogether better receivedand much better executed, but remain resolutely separate from the ongoing Japanese efforts. Despite all that, the films still have a variety of methods of progress.
Return to Horror
Does anyone remember that the giant radioactive lizard was once meant to be scary? He arguably still is, at least at times, but the film frames him as protagonist whenever he’s on-screen. When he’s not around, the humans alternately discuss him like an oncoming natural disaster or a rowdy family pet. It would be nothing more than an issue ofcontext to make Godzillathe nightmarish harbinger he was once before. The best film in the franchise’s recent memory managed this.Shin Godzillawas an intricate nightmare that successfully brought the series back to its roots while adapting it for a new era.
After all, it’s not like the threat of nuclear annihilation has actually gone anywhere. The real-world horror that Godzilla once represented is still very much present, as more nations than ever hold nuclear weapons which have advanced far beyond the 50s. Alternatively, if the filmmakers still want Godzilla in the hero role, there arecountless other kaiju capableof destroying a city. Gigan or Destoroyah or even Mechagodzilla could be the new wandering nightmare to make kaiju scary once more.
Set an Entire Film in The Hollow Earth
A world beneath our own. An ecosystem with its own hierarchy, entirely alien to anything mankind has seen before, all just beneath the reality we know. That’s one of the most interesting concepts this franchise has ever put to screen, and it gets discussed for around 15 minutes and shown off for around 5.Godzilla vs. Kongbrings a handful of human charactersinto the extremely hazardous domain of the kaiju, but while that furthers the story, it isn’t necessary. Most of the dialogue in the Monsterverse films is perfunctory at best at boring at worst, the monsters have far more interesting banter delivered entirely through growls and roars.
A film set entirely within the Hollow Earth could focus entirely on the monsters and their personal struggles for power and survival. On top of visual spectacle, the film only scraped the surface of the nightmarish creatures that occupy that landscape. A kingdom, complete with palace and throne, was able to form. Clearly, the denizens of the Hollow Earth are more than animals, or at the very least have aLion Kinglevel of intelligence and formality. A bizarre, dialogue-free action film about theGame of Thrones-esque struggles of monsters in their incredible world could be a stunning step forward for the Monsterverse and the genre as a whole.
Cross-Over WithPacific Rim
Beloved director Guillermo del Toro has been pulling for this idea for years now.Pacific Rimwas the masterful giant monster movie that paved the way for the Monsterverse in the first place. Despite the total disappointment of the sequel, fans would be clamoring to see Godzilla take on a Jaeger.
The kaiju ofPacific Rimcome from an undersea portal and are controlled by some sort of alien hive mind, making them drastically different from the Hollow Earth beasts of the Monsterverse. Given Godzilla’s typical role, he’d be a powerful ally against the monsters, and the idea of a Jaeger teaming up with the original kaiju is too cool to deny.
