WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Godzilla vs. Kong, now in theaters and streaming on HBO Max.
Godzilla vs. Kong is the culmination of seven years of cinematic storytelling that began with 2014’s reboot of Godzilla and continued with 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The film pits the two kaiju against one another in multiple show-stopping fights as the movie reaches its explosive climax in the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong. And when the dust settles, there is a clear winner to the final showdown, bringing the MonsterVerse tale to a definitive end while leaving room open for a potential sequel.
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Godzilla vs. Kong expands on the Hollow Earth theory suggested by Skull Island and further explored in King of the Monsters, with geologist Nathan Lind leading Kong and a team of Apex personnel on an expedition into the Earth’s core. Within this land that time forgot, Kong and the humans learn that Kong and Godzilla are of two species that warred long ago. While Kong settles in as the domain’s new ruler, he is interrupted when Godzilla blasts a tunnel into the Hollow Earth with his atomic breath, leading Kong to emerge from the Earth’s surface and engage his rival in a rematch.
At the end of the fight, both Titans remain alive, though Godzilla is the clear victor. Having put aside their differences to destroy a common threat in MechaGodzilla, the two monsters reach a sort of unspoken truce rather than resume their own battle. Godzilla returns to the sea. His mental faculties are restored, and his recent fit of violent outbursts are presumably back under control with MechaGodzilla and the corrosive influence of King Ghidorah seemingly destroyed for good. Lind leads an expedition back to the Hollow Earth where Kong has returned home — now the undisputed master of his newfound domain — as the scientists safely watch him from an observation outpost set up to monitor his activities.
Legendary Entertainment’s contract with Toho is fulfilled with Godzilla vs. Kong‘s completion, leaving the future of the MonsterVerse currently unknown. However, should the movie continue its box office success, the film series certainly has room to explore if Legendary and Toho renew their contract, with both of Godzilla vs. Kong‘s eponymous Titans still alive and well. And while Godzilla and Kong may have resolved their differences, there are plenty of kaiju in Toho’s catalog that would give the monsters a run for their money on the big screen.
Godzilla vs. Kong comes to a pretty firm ending; there’s no mid or post-credits scene teasing where a possible continuation to the MonsterVerse could go next. A definitive winner has been crowned, and the sinister corporation pulling strings has been decidedly dealt with, completely leveled by their own creation MechaGodzilla. Peace has returned, and Godzilla is apparently a defender of humanity once again, while Kong rules an even more expansive kingdom. But hopefully, it won’t be the last audiences see of these iterations of the two kaiju.
Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film is in theaters and on HBO Max now.
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