At the end of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Dr. Rick Stanton watched Godzilla standing over the remains of Fenway Park and a wrecked Boston harbor, roaring as the rest of the Titans—or monsters—bowed to his majesty following his conquering of Monster Zero.
“I’m glad he’s on our side,” Stanton (played by Bradley Whitford) quipped to his colleague.
Dr. Ilene Chen (Ziyi Zhang), who comes from a long line of monster-whisperers, was more cautious.
“For now,” she responded, suggesting that monsters, and humans themselves, can be fickle.
It looks like Dr. Chen was on to something, because in the first trailer for this March’s sequel Godzilla vs. Kong, the massive radioactive kaiju seems to be pretty pissed off and ready to throw down with the latest contender for his throne, the royal-in-name-only King Kong.
The latest epic in Legendary’s MonsterVerse finally pits the two titular kaiju against one another, following the company’s Godzilla-centric features and Kong: Skull Island in 2017. It also marks the iconic monsters’ first match-up since the 1963 Toho film King Kong vs. Godzilla, a Japanese film that saw the island nation’s top monster—still in antagonist mode—taking on the imported American super-ape in a cross-cultural battle that also served as a media satire.
This time, instead of rubber suits stomping on immortal VFX director Eiji Tsuburaya’s miniature cities and mountains, the kaiju are in full CGI, with a scale befitting 21st-century blockbusters. The first trailer for director Adam Wingard’s movie features a giant brawl between Godzilla and bigger-than-ever King Kong in the middle of the ocean, fighting like the two ancient gods that Legendary’s canon rendered them. An aircraft carrier is a mere tandem surfboard for these two, while military jets don’t stand a chance. There are also glimpses of the two throwing fists in a neon-lit Tokyo night, teasing another globe-trotting epic, and allusions to classic shots from old movies, including Kong chained up on the massive boat.
Here’s the synopsis:
Legends collide in Godzilla vs. Kong as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.
The film brings back Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, and Zhang from Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Chandler’s character in particular is flummoxed by Godzilla’s seeming heel turn) and adds co-stars such as Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, Demián Bichir, Lance Reddick, Brian Tyree Henry, and Eiza González. After being delayed several times due to both an ambitious post-production schedule and then the COVID-19 pandemic, it hits theaters and HBO Max on March 26.
