In the last decade or two you might be forgiven to believe that the only film franchises that dominates the box office are the ones that involve super-powered beings. I can luckily inform you that you are wrong. Out of the shadows came a new franchise and a revival in a way in the form of the Monster Kaiju epics from Japanese cinema. It started off with a single standalone reboot and now over time we have multiple, interconnected films and a television series in the works that will expand on this franchise. The franchise in question is the MonsterVerse, but what is the MonsterVerse?
Back in 2014, Hollywood began to revive Godzilla and in doing so they created an epic action blockbuster with some really impressive visuals. This version of Godzilla also acted as a reboot, with no connections to any previous films, which meant there was a blank slate. Within this film was an organisation that hunted monsters and that organisation became to be known as Monarch. Monarch was re-introduced as a small organisation in a prequel film to Godzilla but with King Kong as its star and was also in a way a reboot of that beloved character. This version of King Kong was more fun, vibrant and colourful with some really creepy creatures in there too for added effect.
Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla were big successes and the only connective tissue between the two of them so far was the sinister company Monarch. Due to their successes though sequels were soon in development. The first of which was Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which can be seen as a very hit-and-miss film. It delivered plenty of action but the character work was a little less developed. Saying that though we managed to see some classic monsters come to life on the big screen for the film time in western cinema with Rhodan, King Ghidorah and Mothra joining Godzilla in their power for supremacy. Again, the visuals were vibrant and the palette of the film started to mix with the colours of Kong: Skull Island. These films were now becoming more unified.
During the pandemic we witnessed the climatic showdown, a film that truly deserved to be called a blockbuster! Godzilla vs Kong roared to life across cinema's and streaming at the tail end of the height of the pandemic. As a result it was also seen as a huge success. We had yet to see these monstrous titans battle each other in a Hollywood production, and the results were not disappointing. Monarch still had a role to play and the human characters were shoved to the side, but this was a film franchise dedicated to the monsters, hence the name the MonsterVerse. Godzilla vs Kong saw both characters survive to see another day and it also introduced the Hollow Earth, a kingdom of other prehistoric titans, leaving the door open to explore many more stories.
So where does this all go next? Godzilla and Kong could always get a re-match as a direct sequel is currently in production for a 2024 release. Not much is known about the plot but there are talks and rumours of a prehistoric prequel with these titans in their prime, there’s also a tease that Kong could have a child too. With no official confirmation, the future is all uncertain in terms of where the storytelling will take us next. As well as the films, there is a television series in the works with the focus on Monarch with some key characters returning from the films. Let’s just hope these characters get more development. So even though we have had several Spider-Men and half a dozen Batmen films in last decade, it is good to see Hollywood branching out and exploring new and uncharted franchises. Long live the king!
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Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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