What does the showdown between the two titans mean for the future of the MonsterVerse?
Everything gets wrapped up pretty tidily by the end, but there are still some lingering
questions by the time the credits roll.
Let's dive into the ending of Godzilla vs. Kong to find out.
For months, people have been debating online about who would emerge victorious.
Would Godzilla lay down the hurt with his atomic breath?
Would King Kong offer the upset of the century with a surprise blowout?
There are essentially three different "rounds" throughout the movie between the two, but
in the end, Godzilla proves he's the toughest around by knocking Kong out.
While Kong's able to get a few good hits in and is able to use his shiny, new axe to powerful
effect, Godzilla starts clawing at Kong's chest, pinning him to the ground where the
two growl at each other before Godzilla ultimately walks away.
We obviously don't know what the two titans are saying to one another, but our best guess
is that Godzilla was trying to exert dominance.
You could almost view it as Godzilla yelling, "Submit!"
And eventually, Kong acquiesces.
It turns out to be a fortuitous decision on Godzilla's part, as Kong lends a necessary
assist when Mechagodzilla comes into the picture.
The moment in which Godzilla becomes the clear winner is an emotional one, and it's a significant
beat that wasn't lost on director Adam Wingard.
In an interview with SlashFilm, Wingard said
"It's a very long moment in the film because they roar for a while.
Every time I watch it, I'm like, 'This is what it's all about.
All the work, the three years that I put into this thing.
All the heartache and the worry, it's all worth it for this one moment right here, because
this is what everybody's paying to see.'
It's so cool."
We've known for a while the movie wouldn't sidestep the central premise by having a draw
or anything.
There was always going to be a definitive winner between Godzilla and Kong, and to see
it play out was a moment truly worthy of the big screen.
Remember in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice when Batman and Superman stop fighting so
that they can deal with the bigger threat of Doomsday?
Well, something similar happens in Godzilla vs. Kong.
We get the big reveal that the sketchy Apex Corporation has been working on their own
titan, namely Mechagodzilla, to take out any monsters in its path.
The robot proves too much for Godzilla to handle on its own, so King Kong has to get
back into the fight to lend a hand.
Despite having an ancient rivalry, the two are able to set aside their differences so
that they can lay down the law, and the only way they're able to defeat the robot is by
working together.
The big lizard supes up Kong's axe with its atomic breath, powering it up and making it
strong enough for Kong to turn Mechagodzilla into robotic sashimi.
The titans may go their separate ways by the end of the movie, but it's clear there's a
level of respect.
Throughout the MonsterVerse movies, particularly Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Kong: Skull
Island, there have been references to a primordial realm known as Hollow Earth.
We finally get to see this hidden side of the planet in Godzilla vs. Kong as researchers
Dr. Nathan Lind and Dr. Ilene Andrews lead an expedition to discover what's really beneath
Earth's surface.
Of course, their journey proves to have just been a ruse set up by those at the Apex Corporation
to harness the energy necessary to fully power Mechagodzilla.
All of the bad guys meet their demise by the end of the movie, but as the final scene showcases,
we're not done with Hollow Earth just yet.
By the looks of it, Kong's now living where he belongs, and Monarch has set up a full-scale
research site in a tucked-away area, hopefully away from the various monsters and creepy-crawlies
lurking about.
This sets up the possibility of being able to go back-and-forth between the two areas,
potentially even allowing King Kong to return to the surface in case Godzilla needs another
hand taking down some more sinister beings.
For now, Kong is home, no longer confined to the enclosed area of Skull Island.
The last scene of the film shows Kong back in Hollow Earth, and presumably, he's going
to stay there while Godzilla remains on the surface.
That allows them to be the kings of their respective domains, but it doesn't mean more
monsters couldn't come to the forefront for future installments.
The one thing that's abundantly clear as of this point is that the franchise hasn't tied
itself down to a singular direction as of this juncture.
As it stands, the film doesn't really hint at what a sequel would entail, and, according
to Wingard, that was very much intentional.
In an interview with Dread Central, the director mentions that they actually did shoot a post-credits
scene, but as he explains,
"It kind of got cannibalized and ended up sort of being the end of the movie.
We used it in a slightly different context than it was originally shot for."
He goes on to elaborate,
"If a movie is totally contingent on a sequel then you are just talking about the next thing
that is coming up and you can't totally enjoy that ride."
As of right now, no other MonsterVerse movies have been announced, likely until Warner Bros.
is able to figure out how profitable Godzilla vs. Kong ends up being.
"Jesus.
Good thing he's on our side."
"For now."
Having Godzilla and King Kong fight each other really feels like an Endgame-level event,
in the sense that it's hard to figure out where exactly the franchise goes from here.
There's definitely no shortage of kaiju from the original Toho films for Warner Bros. to
utilize, but those just kind of seem like small potatoes after watching Godzilla take
on a robotic version of itself.
Multiple monsters could always team up together to take on the Primeval Champion, but we already
basically saw that with King of the Monsters when Rodan and King Ghidorah emerged to try
to become alphas.
Honestly, it would be pretty neat if future installments looked toward some of the discarded
Godzilla movie ideas of the past, such as when the monster had to take on a giant Frankenstein's
monster.
There was also an idea years ago to bring body horror into this universe with an alien
threat coming into the picture that would add some interesting wrinkles to the MonsterVerse.
Now that Godzilla and Kong have fought, anything is really possible, and we just hope the studio
continues pushing the boundaries and getting even weirder with the future of the MonsterVerse.
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