Thanks to the success of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe establishing many solo films before a full team-up, it’s been the goal of many other movie studios to establish their own cinematic universe. But Toho has been doing that very thing with Godzilla since its inception.
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Toho plans to get back to this spirit as they announced their plans for a full Godzilla cinematic universe after 2020, which is when the Legendary’s Godzilla focused “Monsterverse” will release its final film.
Japanese publication Nikkei-Style published an interview with Toho’s Chief Godzilla Officer, Keiji Ota, over the future of the franchise:
“The future of the series and its forwarding developments are very conscious of the method of “shared universe”. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, etc. could all share a single world view much like a Marvel movie where Iron Man and the Hulk can crossover with each other. It is said that each movie can be a possible film production where any one of them could lead a film of their own as the titular character.”
After Legendary wraps its own cinematic universe with Godzilla vs. King Kong in 2020, Ota states that Toho wants to create their own universe and that Godzilla is a franchise that fits this idea. Technically, he isn’t wrong about this given that many of the Showa and Heisei era films in the Godzilla franchise often bled into one another or shared the same timeline.
Much as his example, Toho’s Godzilla is full of recognizable Kaiju that once had their own solo films as well. But the matter is whether or not this can be replicated after Legendary’s version of Godzilla is another thing altogether. Though there is a sacrifice in that the award-winning and popular with fans Shin Godzilla will not see a second release in this plan.
Ota states that, “Shin Godzilla was a huge hit, but instead of thinking of doing the obvious idea of making a Shin Godzilla 2, instead think about a world that can be used for a long time, I’d rather make a World of Godzilla.” This might not sit well with fans hopeful of a sequel seeing through its tease in the first film, or fans who appreciated the darker more twisted take on the popular Kaiju.
But these plans are on hold until at least 2020 when the rights free back up and Toho is allowed to make more films. How often would each film release? Ota explains that “after 2021, we’re thinking of a potential strategy that [releases] Godzilla movies uninterrupted at a rate of every 2 years, although there is a preference for a yearly pace as well.”
So even without a potential Shin Godzilla 2, there will be plenty of Kaiju films to enjoy along with the already released anime version of the monster and completed Legendary Pictures release.
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Image courtesy of DC Comics
