Is Godzilla the bad guy this time around?

Upon release, the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer is breaking records already and leaving a massive effect on genre fans, but some fans are voicing concern over Godzilla’s seemingly new role as Titanus Badattitudus. In a few key scenes, we see Godzilla wreaking havoc upon humanity, and the question is why. 

To be fair this wouldn’t be the first time Godzilla acted as humanity’s destroyer, and, as a virtue of such, does not mean he is evil in doing so. 

The original Godzilla film introduced us to the ‘sacred beast of the apocalypse.’ Godzilla rose as the son of the atomic bomb, a reflection of the darkest secrets rooted in man’s soul. A nearly indestructible embodiment of mankind’s capacity for self-annihilation. That first film, Gojira, served as a metaphor for the wrath of God upon the nuclear age. That does not mean Godzilla, acting as man’s destroyer, was in any fact evil. No more than a tornado, a volcano, or a hurricane is evil. 

To be honest I was surprised when Godzilla – back in 2014 – acted as our defender! I was expecting the opposite given his cinematic track record. Godzilla acting as hero has way more to do with his recognized role back during the Showa era of the franchise. Even as recently as 2016, in Shin Godzilla, he’s been the antagonist for the most part of his legacy. Well, an antihero is more fitting a title.

It might be upsetting for newer fans of the genre to suddenly see their titanic hero out there causing so much devastation but this wouldn’t be anything new out of Godzilla’s history. Fuck’s sake, in a comic book Godzilla’s the one who sank the Titanic with his dorsal spines. Godzilla has been rather rambunctious in the past. 

However, I beg to differ. Yes, in the trailer we’re told that ‘Godzilla is out there hurting people.’ We’re shown scenes of Godzilla attacking facilities for seemingly no good reason. We see him tearing through battle cruisers as he propels himself through the ocean on a hell-bent course – assumedly – to attack Kong and nothing can stand in Godzilla’s way.

Something is provoking Godzilla, sending him into a violent frenzy. None of that makes Godzilla the ‘bad guy’ though. It means there’s way more going on than we know. The director even claimed we’ve only seen the very uppermost peak of the iceberg in this trailer. There’s still far more for us to see. 

And let’s settle this right now: I do not think this is Mechagodzilla we see throughout the trailer. I ran that theory by as a possibility, but, theory or not, I believe we are seeing the real Godzilla battling it out with Kong in the trailer. 

What Could Have Pissed Godzilla Off?

I covered this a little in my last article but it’s worthwhile to cover a bit more. At the end of King of the Monsters, we are left with the foreboding words that Godzilla is on our side ‘for now.’ Leaving a frightening cliffhanger that leads way to Godzilla turning against humanity. 

It’s easy to see why Godzilla would though. If he is the natural order’s answer to calamity upon the planet then given our abuse of the planet we would quickly turn into Godzilla’s enemies and need to be dealt with. We wage war against the ecosystem, against nature, and, without a doubt, against the Titans if given the chance (be it if they were real.) Consider how many people hunt down big game hunt, not for food, but for sport. There would be people eagerly waiting for the chance to mount a Titan’s stuffed corpse on their property if they could. 

That would easily piss off Godzilla. If we attacked Titans he’d be within his right as king to defend them. 

(On a side note I just finished a Gamera marathon with my gf and mentioned an idea for a Godzilla vs Gamera possibility. Imagine Godzilla acting as defender of the planet against humanity’s ongoing destruction of the earth in the name of profits or whatever. Meanwhile, Gamera would rise up as defender of humanity, putting both defenders on a collision course to battle one another to the death. Now that could be interesting.)

Could this be what leads Godzilla to fight Kong? Could be, but I’m not sold on that just yet. It’s later (now) been revealed that Mechagodzilla will have a clandestine role in the movie which leads us to my final idea on the matter. 

Why Would Godzilla Attack?

I don’t think his attacks are unprovoked or mindless. Something (or someone) is in the background pulling the strings and orchestrating the events leading to the apocalypse.

In the trailer, we’re given a very brief glimpse of a map linking a mysterious company known as APEX to the Godzilla attacks. We’re also given a brief glimpse of what can easily be presumed to be Mechagodzilla charging up in the background. Brilliant! These two little clues are connected I think. As in APEX serving as the company that built Godzilla’s mechanical counterpart. 

Now why they would do that is anyone’s guess. We do know the military was eager to be more involved with controlling these giant monsters, so much so that they fired an untested superweapon – the oxygen destroyer – into the ocean with a hope and a prayer to destroy the Titans. Would they be willing to build a weapon to match Godzilla’s strength? Oh fuck yeah they would! 

I think APEX is a counter organization to Monarch who are entirely dedicated to discovering, studying, and defending the Titans. Again, it’s not like there weren’t secret organizations in the older movies, organizations hell-bent on crushing or controlling Godzilla. 

Now, given this is true, it could explain why Godzilla is destroying APEX facilities. He’d see them as a threat against his kingdom and the world entire. It could be APEX has some way of manipulating Godzilla, something like the orca used in KOTM, and could be setting Godzilla up. 

Could they be gaslighting Godzilla? Are they provoking his attacks and turning him into the (convenient) threat they need? A convenient threat only they, with their Mechagodzilla weapon, could come in and stop? It would make them look like saviors and could give them the global support they need to then police the rest of the Titans? 

Something the government and military have been pushing for?

Fuck I hope I’m right. I hope they’ve put some thought into this movie. 

One thing we know about mankind: it hates to share. APEX could be acting as a radical group out to rid the world of monsters humanity now suddenly must learn to coexist with. 

Why Would Mechagodzilla Be Such a Threat?

In my last piece, I mentioned a few ways Mechagodzilla could be built, chiefly being a bio-mech by blending Titan DNA into the construct of the machine. Something like we saw in Toho’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Then I gave it more thought and it fucking dawned on me! 

What if they are doing the exact same thing! In GAM Kiryu, aka Mechagodzilla, is built from the bones of Gojira. In Godzilla (2014) Monarch discovers the bones of a Godzilla species. Godzilla bones! Those bones are out there and ripe for the picking. What if we’re getting a Kiryu type Mechagodzilla?! Now that possibility has me excited. 

Wouldn’t that be reason enough to agitate Godzilla? The profane use of Titan bones – bones of his ancestors nonetheless – used as a manmade machine to destroy Titans? 

That would be a good enough reason for him to seek and destroy every operational APEX facility around the globe. 

We have to keep in mind that in the trailer Maddison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) says “There’s something provoking them that we’re not seeing here.” I think that’s key to the whole riddle. I really hope they use those bones to build an abomination of science and nature, something Godzilla would sense, be enraged by, and seek to purge. 

Like so many other instances the Godzilla franchise offers up a few examples of Godzilla’s DNA being used to create new monsters that Godzilla must stop. The whole plot in Godzilla vs. Biollante can be summed up like this. “Lol! Let’s blend Godzilla’s DNA with a flower and see what happens.” Boom! Godzilla Flower! And it’s one helluva cool looking monsters. 

Spacegodzilla was created from Godzilla cells carried into space by Mothra. Well, at least one side of the story claims that. And we already mentioned how Kiryu was built around the bones of Godzilla. If we’re lucky we could be getting a Legendary version of Kiryu. 

It’s all speculation at this point, but I love it. I can talk about these monsters and movies all day long. I keep my gf up till 3 in the morning going over theories for the upcoming film. So let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

Manic out and Long Live the King!!!