Godzilla x Kong: Adam Wingard Unpacks His Showa Vision

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will hit theaters this week, unearthing new threats born in the Hollow Earth. Prior to the new chapter of the MonsterVerse, we here at ComicBook.com had the opportunity to speak with the movie's director Adam Wingard. Thanks to helming the first Godzilla Vs. Kong, the director has his kaiju chops and took the chance to talk about his love of Godzilla's Showa Era.

For those unfamiliar with Godzilla's "Showa Era", this time period refers to the release of the original Godzilla and all the movies that followed until the release of 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. This era included around fifteen movies, including the original Kong Vs. Godzilla movie that started the rivalry between the two giant beasts. The Toho movies had a definitive legacy on not just Godzilla, but all takes on kaiju moving forward. 

In talking with The New Empire's director Adam Wingard, the creative mind in the MonsterVerse dove into his love of the Showa era, "I think the thing that makes them feel more current is because there's just nothing like it. You look at all the other eras of Godzilla, and Godzilla has always been much more adjacent to being dark since 1984 Godzilla. And obviously it's gone in very vibrant, colorful directions, but they're always a little bit more kind of serious. And even though I think that there's a lot of... especially the early '90s ones and the 2000s ones that go into a purposely campy direction, sometimes, they're still darker. They're still a lot more violent. And so I think it's one of those things, it's like you can't really beat that kind of purity of the '60s and '70s. I mean, Destroy All Monsters has this almost Austin Powers feel to it that you cannot fake. It's such a product of the moment that it was created."

Godzilla's Showa Era Resurfaces in The MonsterVerse

Wingard then took the chance to express his love for Godzilla Vs. Hedorah, explaining how there was no other kaiju film like it, "And same for Hedorah. For me, that movie, it really is the Easy Rider of Godzilla movies. It has this psychedelic acid influence to it. It's very experimental in a lot of ways. They don't even have the Godzilla theme in it, and say, "Wah wah wah." And so I think it's just the fact that... I mean, obviously the nostalgia factor plays into it, but there's just nothing else like it. And so I think that's where it's influencing the current generation. I mean, it's funny that Yamazaki is influenced by it because you wouldn't necessarily know that from looking at his film, because his film is so much more... It's the closest to the original film of I think any Godzilla movie."

What was your favorite kaiju era? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the New Empire.