Legendary Entertainment has revealed a first teaser trailer for the next MonsterVerse movie about Godzilla and King Kong, hinting at the new enemy.
With “Godzilla vs. Kong” in 2021, Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment and director Adam Wingard brought an epic kaiju battle to the big screen like never before in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The skirmishes between the titans Godzilla and King Kong made for an incredible spectacle and flushed $ 470 million in the coffers, around $ 80 million more than the direct predecessor “Godzilla 2: King of Monsters”. And that in the midst of the corona pandemic. Hard to imagine what would have been possible had Warner released the film in 2022.
Of course, Wingard knows exactly what the fans want and how he has to stage the original giants in order to get the most out of the so-called MonsterVerse. Fan service, but also picking up the general cinema audience: Wingard has succeeded in doing just that. So it went without saying that he was given the opportunity to be responsible for the sequel. A first teaser trailer has now been unveiled for the next Kaiju film, which not only presents the official title, but also hints at the next big enemy:
“Godzilla vs. Kong” Spoiler Warning Ahead!
“Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire” will be the title of the next clash between the world’s colossal destroyers. The “x” in the title this time represents a tag team action between Godzilla and King Kong, as opposed to the “vs” in the previous film. This information had been leaked well in advance for attentive fans, but now it is official. After all, the two titans had already joined forces at the end of “Godzilla vs. Kong” to confront Mecha-Godzilla in Hong Kong. A whole movie featuring an epic wrestling-style showdown was the logical next step for the franchise.
In “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire,” a new enemy is introduced, which is even more intriguing. Not much can be seen in the teaser trailer, but it is evident that this is a completely new creature, not a monster from either Godzilla or King Kong’s respective universes. The silhouette resembles an orangutan, and the color of the fur in the close-up also suggests this. One could even call this new creature “Evil Kong.” So, could this new enemy be from Hollow Earth? Is it a direct rival of King Kong in the fight for dominance in the subterranean realm? This choice would certainly be consistent after the two had to battle a mechanical version of Godzilla in the last film.
According to the official synopsis, this new kaiju is not only a threat to humans, but also a bringer of death to the real rulers of the earth: the titans. In the teaser trailer, the skulls of these titans are visible. There were indications of a war between Godzilla’s kind and King Kong’s kin in Hollow Earth. However, it is possible that the giant primate’s family was driven out of Hollow Earth by rivals and ended up on Skull Island, where almost all of them were killed by skull crawlers, as shown in “Kong: Skull Island,” which can be streamed on Amazon.
Director Adam Wingard will provide answers in “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire,” which will premiere in German cinemas on March 14, 2024, according to the official announcement.
