Ever since Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s first trailer dropped, one of the main talking points for the 2024 movie release has been how Godzilla is now rocking a pink look. While it remains to be officially disclosed why the Titan’s spines have changed color in the next MonsterVerse entry, this new look has gotten a big thumbs up from an important figure from the blockbuster franchise: Toho, the company that introduced the world to this reptilian monstrosity.
Jared Krichevsky, a Legacy Effects employee who worked as a creature designer on Godzilla x Kong, was asked on X whether or not Toho checks and approves redesigns on its characters, and this post included a gif of the pink-spined Godzilla. Krichevsky simply responded:
Yep ????
Short, but to the point. Obviously the MonsterVerse wouldn’t be able to use Godzilla without Toho’s permission, but the clarification is appreciated that the company is also involved with the character’s use beyond the initial licensing. In other words, had Toho, which released the first Godzilla movie in 1954, not liked Godzilla looking pink, then that plot element never would have been greenlit and reached our eyes. But that obviously didn’t happen, so the company is all good with the pink Godzilla rampaging around in the MonsterVerse.
Regarding the redesign, director Adam Wingard recently said he wanted to try “different things with the spines and try different colors” after deciding on his prior MonsterVerse outing, 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, to keep the Titan looking the same way he had in 2014’s Godzilla, which launched this franchise, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Wingard also confirmed that the color change is “part of the story,” and it’s been speculated by some fans that this is a result of Godzilla now being able to channel gamma radiation.
But Godzilla isn’t the only major Titan who’s looking a little different in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Not only does his gorilla ally look a little grayer and have a longer beard, Kong will also don a mechanical glove at some point during the story that has B.E.A.S.T. written on it. What hasn’t been shared yet is if the acronym references the glove’s function or its source, whether that’s a division of Monarch or an outside party.
Delving back into Hollow Earth, the next MonsterVerse movie will see our two title Titans squaring off against a sinister simian monster known as The Skar King, as well as running into Mini-Kong, a.k.a. Suko, and various other Titans both new and familiar. As for the human lineup, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s cast includes the return of Rebecca Hall’s Ilene Andrews, Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes and Kaulee Hottle’s Jia, as well as newcomers like Dan Stevens’ Trapper, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen and Rachel House, with those last three in undisclosed roles.
While we count down for Godzilla x Kong’s release in theaters on April 12, Max subscribers would be wise to remember that the previous four MonsterVerse movies can be found on the platform. If you also have an Apple TV+ subscription though, you can stream the franchise’s first live-action TV show, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which checks in on Godzilla in the 1950s and mid-2010s.