‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Director Reveals ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Kong’ Directors Influence

Godzilla: King of the Monsters heads to theaters this summer, bringing the third installment so far in Legendary’s Monsterverse of movies. And based off of comments by the franchise’s newest director, the various films have a pretty unique relationship.

During a visit to the King of the Monsters set, director Mike Dougherty spoke to ComicBook.com about what influence the franchise’s previous directors – Godzilla‘s Gareth Edwards and Kong: Skull Island‘s Jordan Voight-Roberts – had on the film.

“I talked to Gareth quite a bit, texting back and forth, some phone calls here and there, and he actually came to visit the set a few weeks ago.” Dougherty revealed. “Jordan, I haven’t interacted with too much, except for post, outside of Kong, a brief meeting.”

“But I really like what those guys have done, and I definitely think there’s a sort of visual style that’s being developed for this film which you want to adhere to on some levels.” Dougherty continued. “And you want to color outside the lines every now and then; you don’t want to be slavish. I think trying to treat the stories and the creatures with a sense of respect, and trying to make it feel real is important.”

To an extent, this relationship from one franchise installment to another seems to be a bit of a throughline with those involved with the franchise, even as 2020’s Godzilla vs. Kong looms ahead.

“We take it one movie at a time.” producer Alex Garcia and co-writer and executive producer Zach Shields said in a recent interview. “We’re working with Adam Winguard, working toward Godzilla vs. Kong, but the right now the focus is all on [Godzilla: King of the Monsters]… It’s one brick at a time. There’s obviously a goal of what we want the whole thing to look like, but each piece has to be as good as it can be. Could there be? Yeah, that’s the hope if the movies turn out really well.”

This idea of a shared universe of monster movies might seem like a bold new direction, but Dougherty hasn’t shied away from the franchise’s previous roots.

“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 during the same set visit. “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.”

Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, and Thomas Middleditch.

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.”

Godzilla: King of Monsters is set to hit theaters on May 31st.