Several new character, story, and franchise details about Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Warner Bros.’ MonsterVerse were unveiled recently thanks to multiple set visit reports. Years ago, Legendary Entertainment managed to strike a deal with Toho to develop a new Godzilla movie. And since Gareth Edwards’ 2014 reboot became a critical and commercial success, Legendary and WB decided to push forward with a full-fledged shared universe that will lead to an ultimate showdown between Godzilla and King Kong in 2020.

But before Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong hits theaters, Toho fans will finally get the Godzilla sequel they’ve been waiting for in Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Bringing together Godzilla and Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah together for the first time in a Hollywood movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters aims to expand the MonsterVerse to a new level, one that will see some of the most iconic monsters in cinematic history battle each other for supremacy.

For some time now, fans have managed to obtain quite a few details about Godzilla: King of the Monster by persuing through the Monarch Sciences viral website that launched last summer. But in addition to ramping up the final leg of King of the Monsters’ marketing campaign (including releasing multiple TV spots and promos), the studio has lifted the embargo on the set visits that were conducted in mid-2017, which means new details have emerged online.

New Godzilla: King of the Monsters Story Details

Vera Farmiga’s Dr. Emma Russell is responsible for creating a new device called the Orca, which can communicate with - and potentially control - the Titans in King of the Monsters. Naturally, this device is coveted by people and organizations who want to use the Titans for personal gain. And so, Charles Dance’s unnamed character, who leads the villains in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, kidnaps Dr. Russell and her daughter, Madison, played by Millie Bobby Brown, from the Monarch outpost in China that was being used to study Mothra. It’s at this point in the film that Mothra escapes from the outpost, which instigates the story.

In order to find Emma and Madison, as well as the Orca device that Dance’s mercenaries now control, Monarch brings on Kyle Chandler’s Mark Russell, who’s capable of tracking the Orca. However, he accepts the mission only to find his daughter. (Mark and Emma had a falling out, partly because Mark wants to see the Titans destroyed and Emma wants to protect them.) Later on, Sally Hawkins’ Dr. Vivienne Graham gives a briefing at Monarch HQ about Emma and Madison’s kidnapping. Everyone believes the mercenaries would be heading to Rodan’s Monarch outpost, so that’s where they choose to go to.

As seen in the Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailers, Rodan explodes out of the volcano in Mexico and chases either the military, Dance’s mercenaries, or Monarch. According to the set visit reports, however, it seems that the mercenaries and Monarch are involved in the Rodan chase, with Monarch flying a new aircraft called the Argo. (The Argo aircraft was previously teased in merchandise and can be seen quite prominently in various Godzilla: King of the Monsters posters as well.) Given the Argo’s importance to the movie, Monarch might be even more involved with defeating the mercenaries, recovering the Orca, and protecting the Titans than previously realized.

Interestingly, given that Mothra escapes and both the mercenaries and Monarch head to Rodan’s outpost, the Orca might be involved in both Titans fighting each other, which is something that was also confirmed in the set visit reports. Mothra and Rodan’s fight is just one of many battles audiences can expect to see in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, including not one but two fights between Godzilla and Ghidorah.

Page 2 of 2: Other Godzilla: King of the Monsters Details & Trivia

Other Godzilla: King of the Monsters Details & Trivia

In addition to all the story details revealed from the Godzilla: King of the Monsters set visit reports, there are a number of other details and various trivia that tease the MonsterVerse’s new Titans, Monarch’s role in the shared universe, and where the franchise is going after this year’s film.

  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters takes place five years after Edwards’ Godzilla reboot, thus meaning that the events in the MonsterVerse unfold in real-time. Of course, Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ Kong: Skull Island was a prequel movie that took place in the 1970s, at the tail-end of the Vietnam War. Since Godzilla: King of the Monsters directly sets up Godzilla vs. Kong, the upcoming sequel will feature a King Kong Easter egg/reference, though the director and producers refrained from sharing what that reference might be. Charles Dance’s unnamed mercenary group deals in Titan DNA, which explains why they want the Orca device and why they are adamant about catching Mothra alive. Mothra is considered a god in the MonsterVerse, and her DNA could be worth a fortune. Interestingly, this description heavily resembles Ron Perlman’s character and organization in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim movie. Godzilla: King of the Monsters filmed under the working title of Fathom. At Dougherty’s request, the sequel’s creature designers took the original silhouettes for Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah, as well as potentially other new Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and updated them to modern standards. This ultimately led to an amalgamation of various species for the monsters. For example, Rodan wasn’t just a version of a Pteradon anymore but rather a combination of eagles, vultures, hawks, and more. However, Mothra was considered the most challenging monster to design. Dougherty and producer Zach Shields led a writer’s room, which began in spring 2016 and took nearly a year to produce a story and script worthy of developing into a movie. Godzilla: King of the Monsters starts out at Mothra’s Monarch outpost, with viewers seeing a Mothra larva containment unit. Dougherty says Godzilla: King of the Monsters is Aliens if people considering the 2014 reboot to be Alien. This comparison is meant to describe the narrative and thematic differences between the two installments while still sharing the same DNA. King of the Monsters is certainly meant to be more action-packed. Dougherty has said the idea of the sequel is to put “God” back into Godzilla’s name; these are mythological creatures that could devastate the entire planet if they wanted to. So why not show that? The vast majority of Godzilla: King of the Monsters was filmed on soundstages at Blackhall Studios outside of Atlanta, GA. Some exterior shots were taken in Georgia, New Mexico, and Mexico City. As seen on the Monarch Sciences website, there are many more Titans out there in the world. On the Monarch HQ set, there was a computer that code-named some of the outposts as “Baphomet,” “Typhoon,” “Abaddon,” “Bunyip,” “Methuselah,” and “Titanus Kong”. While Kong is an obvious choice, the rest could very well be Easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans. Funnily enough, Michael B. Jordan recently signed up to star in a Methuselah movie for WB. Godzilla vs. Kong is currently the final movie slated to release in the MonsterVerse, but Toho may extend their contract with Legendary if Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong perform well - both critically and commercially. If they don’t, and if they were to perhaps flop like the 1998 Godzilla movie did, then Toho would be unwilling to allow their characters to appear in future Hollywood adaptations.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is shaping up to be one of the most-anticipated movies of the year, and it’s one that could set the stage for an even bigger shared universe to compete with WB’s other franchises - such as The Conjuring universe and the DCEU - but only time will tell if the sequel can truly live up to its hype.

More: Everything The Director’s Set Photos Reveal About Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Set visit reports via JoBlo, Toho Kingdom, IGN, and Collider

  • Godzilla 2 Release Date: 2019-05-31 Godzilla Vs Kong Release Date: 2021-03-31