‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Director Says Toho’s Monsterverse Was the Original MCU

Godzilla: King of the Monsters will be the biggest adaptation of Toho’s classic Monsterverse franchise, which introduced the world to so many iconic Kaiju creations that served as both spectacle and metaphor for Japan’s post-WWII era of cinema. Comicbook.com was fortunate to be included in a group of journalists invited to the set of Godzilla 2, and while there, we had the chance to sit down with director Mike Dougherty and talk about what the history of Toho means in this modern landscape of billion-dollar blockbuster movies and shared universe franchises.

Not surprisingly, Dougherty was already a big fan of Godzilla and the Toho Monsterverse before taking the Godzilla 2 directing gig. In fact, as Dougherty tells it, franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe owe their existence to the road that studios like Toho or Universal Pictures paved, with their Kaiju and classic movie monster universes:

“I don’t know if this was brought up before, outside of the universal classic monster movies, Toho is one of the first companies to pioneer the idea of a shared universe,” Dougherty said. “They were doing it long before Marvel was. So, they did it via the creatures. Mothra was a completely separate film from Godzilla when it started. Same thing with Rodan. So it feels like things are coming full circle.”

Mothra and Rodan may not be getting their own solo origin films like Thor or Captain America, but their inclusion alongside Godzilla in King of the Monsters certainly elevates the film ot the level of an Avengers movie. Fans of the Toho Monsterverse have been thirsty for more of the classic Kaiju like Mothra, Rodan, and (most of all) King Ghidorah to get their respective moments to shine with a modern makeover – just as they’re already thirsting for King of the Monsters’ sequel film, the epic Godzilla vs. Kong showdown that will be the Captain America: Civil War event film of this franchise.

You can catch so much more of our Godzilla 2 s set visit info by visiting our official Godzilla: King of the Monsters page. The film hits theaters on May 31st.

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