Godzilla Vs Kong Costume Designer Incorporates Kaijus’ History Into The New Film

Godzilla Vs. Kong is on the verge of landing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, with the long-awaited release making landfall this week, and we had the opportunity to chat with costume designer Ann Foley with regards to how the history of the two killer kaiju was incorporated into the next entry into Legendary Pictures’ “Monster-Verse”. Specifically, Foley goes into detail with regards to how the new character, Jai, is able to have a design that gives us hints as to how she is able to develop a relationship with the giant ape from Skull Island.

Foley had this to say about the design of Jia’s attire, specifically going into detail about how the Iwi people have developed since we last saw them in the 1970s during their first appearance in Kong: Skull Island:

“Jia’s costume was definitely influenced from the past films. It was important to me that her costume represented a celebration of her Iwi heritage while also showing the passage of time for the Iwi, who we last saw in the ’70s in Kong: Skull Island. To show that passage of time, we gave Jia’s clothing modern twists with her sneakers, shirt, and pants. However, her Iwi wrap is a direct link to the heritage of the tribe and its history. The wrap serves many purposes: a blanket to stay warm, a shawl to disguise her, or a hood to protect her from the elements. I also added the Iwi language down the front of the wrap to help imbue it with her Iwi heritage.”

On top of this, Foley also went into detail about how she was able to incorporate elements of the “Skull Crawlers” from Kong: Skull Island, revealing that Jia’s family was actually killed by the titanic monsters:

“Another costume element I incorporated that is important was the necklace she wears – it is made of Skull Crawler teeth that Jia gathered on the island. It was the Skull Crawlers that killed her family so this necklace is a talisman of sorts that protects and acknowledges the danger of her past and empowers her for the possibilities of her future.”

Are you hyped for this week’s arrival of Godzilla Vs. Kong? Who are you rooting for in this war between the two most popular giant monsters in the world? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the kaiju.