With news breaking this week that Legendary and Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard are in early talks to make another Monsterverse movie, we must keep our expectations dialed in. As we know from yesterday's report - the murmurings at Legendary seem to suggest the working title for the next Monsterverse movie being Son of Kong. Since this news broke, many fans have wondered why they would be entertaining such a potentially weak direction for the franchise to follow up with after the epic clash of Godzilla vs. Kong. The reason might be a simple one - Legendary don't have the rights to use Godzilla anymore.
Since 2014's debut, we knew Legendary and Warner Brothers had only secured rights to Godzilla for a given time frame (until the year 2020) and that after that length of time was complete that the rights would revert back to Toho and a new deal would need to be reached if Legendary and WB were to produce any new Godzilla movies.
The other factor we need to consider is the fact that Toho are planning their own new Godzilla cinematic universe! This news broke back in 2018 and no, Shin-Godzilla 2 is not on their roster. An excerpt from our original piece on the matter:
Toho, however, seems completely dedicated to expanding the Godzilla franchise after 2020. With the tentative plan of a new film every two years and a fresh "World of Godzilla", it's clear the Godzilla franchise will be here for awhile with or without Legendary Pictures.
Given the hiatus Toho took while Legendary and WB fleshed out their Monsterverse (producing only Shin-Gojira and a number of anime series), it stands to reason that Toho might wish to jump back into the foray of producing their own live-action Godzilla movies without the confusion or confliction with Godzilla movies being produced in the west. Of course, it also sounds like Toho and Legendary have forged a healthy relationship throughout their use and handling of the character, so it is possible Toho will allow Legendary to still use certain monsters for their Monsterverse continuation - it just might be without Godzilla.
It is still fairly early to assume anything, but given the facts mentioned above, we must urge readers and fans alike to prepare themselves for a potentially Godzilla-less sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong. Not that such a hiatus for Godzilla would be a bad thing - after all, Kong: Skull Island which debuted without any Godzilla screen time managed to earn the most box office revenue of all the Godzilla films within the Monsterverse.
In the meantime, we'd like to hear your thoughts! Would you be disappointed in a Godzilla-less sequel? Or are you open and excited for an expansion of the Monsterverse, Hollow Earth and the introduction of new Titans? Sound off in the comments below!
Before you keep reading, check out this Godzilla Minus One inspired shirt we think you might like!
From Legendary, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova will hit theaters on March 26th, 2027! Visit the GxK: Supernova page for more information, production updates and everything we know so far!
From Toho, Takashi Yamazaki is directing a sequel to Godzilla Minus One! Visit the Godzilla Minus One sequel page for the latest information!
There is also the next season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on the way, as well as other spin-off Godzilla series in the works at Apple TV!
