Godzilla vs Kong May Have Snuck in Two More Toho Monsters

Full spoilers for Godzilla vs Kong below! Despite the hopes of many fans, the latest film in [...]

Full spoilers for Godzilla vs Kong below! Despite the hopes of many fans, the latest film in Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse didn't bring back fan-favorite kaiju like Rodan or Mothra for Godzilla vs Kong, having previously been featured in 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters alongside King Ghidorah and other titans. The new movie features its two titular kaiju as well as antagonist MechaGodzilla and a few original titans including the Skull Crawlers from Kong: Skull Island and a couple of new species found on the Hollow Earth called "Hell Bats" and "War Hawks," at least it seems that's all. A brief sequence in the middle of the movie might allude to two other classic Toho monsters without actually naming them.

After Kong and the research team following him enter the Hollow Earth the giant ape does battle with the War Bat and begins his trek toward the location of his new battle-axe weapon. While roaming about there there's a brief sequence where Kong runs over a piece of land and his foot steps awaken some smaller creatures. Eagle-eye'd Kaiju fans may notice that these creatures have a passing resemblance to the early forms of fan-favorite monster Destroyah. Could Legendary be hedging their bets for more movies?

godzilla vs kong destryoah 2
(Photo: WARNER BROS)

First introduced in 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, the giant creature has long been one of Godzilla's most powerful foes with his origins in that film being tied to the original "Oxygen Destroyer" weapon that killed the original Godzilla in the 1954 feature film. As MonsterVerse viewers will recall that same weapon was used in Godzilla: King of the Monsters as well, meaning that it's very possible these crabs could somehow be tied into that film as well.

In the original Godzilla vs. Destoroyah the creature grew in size a few times over the film, with the various crabs forming together and their mutations from the Oxygen Destroyer aiding their biology in being able to fight Godzilla. Notable Godzilla was "melting down" (just like he did in King of the Monsters) in the film but it had no effect on Destroyah.

GVK DESTROYAH 1
(Photo: WARNER BROS/TOHO)

But that's not all, as the camera follows one of the crabs walking around it's quickly snatched up and eaten by another beast. This giant lizard may be crawling on all fours but the resemblance to Godzilla is uncanny, which has us wondering, is this the MonsterVerse version of Minilla?

godzilla vs kong minilla
(Photo: WARNER BROS)

Godzilla's "son" was introduced back in the 1970s and appeared in multiple films during the Showa era. Later Godzilla movies would reimagine the King of the Monsters' offspring into being more dinosaur like while others would simple update his classic "design," as seen below.

Minilla_2
(Photo: TOHO)

It's speculation on our part that these two monsters were intended to be new versions of either Destroyah or Minillia, but the director Adam Wingard has previously said he re-watched all of the Godzilla movie before he officially signed on to the movie so he would certainly know about these two monsters.

There's also the possibility that these were intended to be these monsters, but unofficially, as it would appear Godzilla creators Toho have to specifically license their monsters to Legendary for their use in the movies. This can be seen in the credits where Godzilla and MechaGodzilla specifically are noted as being copyright/trademark property of Toho (the same was done in Godzilla: King of the Monsters for Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah as well).

What do you think? Are these two titans intended to be kaiju we've seen in Toho movies past or are they a happy coincidence? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below!

Godzilla vs. Kong is now streaming on HBO Max.

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