Godzilla: King of the Monsters is set to hit theaters next year. A trailer dropped for the film over the summer. However, only glimpses of the various other monsters were shown. The only kaiju to get clear screentime was Godzilla himself. One can’t help but think back to the 2015 movie, which featured very sparse glimpses of the title character up until the climax. This treatment ran into its share of criticism, though one could argue that this has always been the formula. Even so, in a film that’s very clearly all about the monster brawl, it’d be head-scratching to not see the monsters in abundance.
But while the Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer didn’t give us much to go on in terms of how these legendary monsters would look, a preview from the upcoming S.H MonsterArts line at Tokyo Comic-Con had fans covered. The toys revealed the general designs for the film’s monsters, giving viewers an idea of what the remaining kaiju would look like. The first one that jumps out is the absolutely massive King Ghidorah. This statue is very faithful to the original design. But some other tweaks update the design, bowing back the colossal dragon’s legs and giving the heads a more Eastern vibe.
On the subject of Ghidorah’s legs, actually, one forgets that since this is CGI and not a suit, the creature designs don’t need to look like they need to be able to fit around an actual person. The same goes for the updated look of Rodan. Though the highlight of that design is the almost volcanic look of the wings, which is suitable. Those familiar with the character know that Rodan hibernates inside of volcanoes. So that looks certainly fits.
By far, the most drastic redesign comes in the form of Mothra’s new look. While the image doesn’t give the best look at the design, it’s clearly a major departure from the originals. While Mothra’s larval form appears to be rather faithful, based on the trailer, her final form was very large and fluffy. This new design seems to make for a much sleeker build, meant for speed and shredding things with its legs. The beautiful, monarch-like wings remain, however. Mothra seems to still be a “good” character if the Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer is anything to go by. But this new look seems ready for a fight.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Aisha Hinds, and Zhang Ziyi. It hits theaters May 31, 2019.