Godzilla vs. Kong Director Reveals the Character Whose Role Was Severely Cut

With a film as highly anticipated as Godzilla vs. Kong, the expectations of the fans and filmmakers themselves will fluctuate over time, which includes multiple drafts of scripts, deleted scenes, and reshoots, which can fundamentally alter the finished project from its original inception. Director Adam Wingard recently addressed some of those changes, as he confirmed that Lance Reddick, who is billed as the Monarch official “Guillermin” in the film, originally had more scenes, though Wingard ultimately felt they were unnecessary to the overall narrative. Reddick isn’t alone in the omission, however, as Zhang Ziyi and Jessica Henwick also didn’t make the final cut.

“Originally, Lance’s part was a little bit bigger as he plays the Monarch director, he’s running the organization,” Wingard revealed to GamesRadar+. “There was a scene earlier in the film, a big board room scene where they’re setting up the mission. He had a larger role, but ultimately we didn’t need that scene, we changed a couple of plot details during the editing process, so that earlier stuff got cut. Now, that stuff just counts as a fun cameo. He is still top credited, it’s still part of his contract. It’s funny because he shows up in the opening credits and then turns up for four lines, maybe three, in the movie ultimately.”

Ziyi appeared in Godzilla: King of the Monsters as a member of Monarch, so were a board room scene to be cut, this likely explains why she didn’t appear in the film. While Henwick offered initial hints at her involvement in the film, she addressed the project at such early stages, she played coy about offering too many details, leaving audiences to speculate how her character fit into the overall story.

One thing fans shouldn’t expect, however, is to see those characters restored into an extended cut of the film, as Wingard expressed how he’s most proud of the theatrical release of the adventure.

“This is the ultimate version of the film,” Wingard clarified. “We actually did the least amount of reshoots than any of those MonsterVerse films. Normally, they do about two weeks, but we only did five days. We did have to be quite surgical, as we did change one element of the plot and it affected a couple of scenes at the beginning and a couple of scenes at the end. That’s where my low-budget, no-budget background comes in. You have to be very crafty and able to think in those terms. We were very surgical in those terms. So, no, this is the ultimate version of the film, I would never do a different version of it.”

Godzilla vs. Kong is currently in theaters and on HBO Max.

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