‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Director Compares Sequel’s Tone to ‘Godzilla’ Reboot

Legendary and Warner Bros. Pictures made big waves with a new version of Godzilla, and fans will soon see an even greater expansion into a Monsterverse with its big sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters. But with the new version of Godzilla came an entirely different tone than fans of Toho’s original franchise, so how will the sequel handle this tone shift with the introduction of even more Kaiju?

Speaking with ComicBook.com at a recent press event, director Michael Dougherty talked about the two tones of the films and compared his take on the famous franchise with its first entry.

Dougherty mentioned what he liked about the tone of Gareth Edwards’ initial entry, “…[Godzilla] was fun but what I appreciate about Gareth’s film is it took things seriously, and I think there’s a fine line between the two…” Elaborating further Doughterty mentioned how his sequel’s tone will differ from the original, “…this isn’t a knee slapping comedy by any means, but again, it’s like if you compare Alien, which is a very straight science fiction film, with not a lot of yucks, compared to Aliens, it kind of had a lot of more fun and tongue in cheek moments… Somewhere in the middle there.”

So while it seems like Godzilla: King of the Monsters will keep much of the same grounded tone of the first film, there will be a different vibe that skews more toward fun. This will be a pretty big transition from the presentation of the original given that the sequel will feature fights between Godzilla and other famous Kaiju, so fans can rest easy knowing there will be some fun moments mixed into the terror. This is in line with Toho’s take on the famous franchise which often had the same blend of serious story but fun monster action.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, among many other talents. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 31 with Godzilla vs. Kong scheduled for a 2020 release after.

The synopsis for Godzilla: King of the Monsters reads as such, “The new story follows the heroic efforts of the cryptozoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient superspecies, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”

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