How Godzilla vs. Kong Director Adam Wingard Mastered Pacing The Giant Fights

Godzilla vs. Kong was burdened with bringing a Titan showdown to the big screen like never before. The titular monsters have duked it out in various media before but the main event of WB's Monster Verse has been anticipated for years and director Adam Wingard inherited a continuity established in three prior films (Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters). With his film, though, Wingard made sure to put his unique touches on these heavy hitters, including their best action sequences to date as they ripped apart city skylines trying to take each other down. Wingard spoke with ComicBook.com about his unique approach to this exciting fight.

"I think that's something that we're always aware of is trying to maintain the scale because we wanted the monster fights to be super fast paced and intense," Wingard explains. "A lot of times, when you're trying to depict the scale of monsters or you know, something that's, you know, over 300 foot tall, a lot of times you end up having to, especially when you're at a lower angle, slow them down so that they appear to be bigger. We knew that we wanted our action to be so fast paced that that wasn't going to be an option for us. And, so, what we ended up doing is we kind of got, you know, the VFX supervisor, DJ, he's a really clever guy, and we kind of came up with this idea that we're gonna slow down all the things around the monsters, like smoke, and falling debris, all the things that give it that like actual scale but we're going to keep the monster moving fast. What it ends up doing is it kind of creates almost like a modern stop motion effect. It's not as like, jarring as that, but my hope is that it has its own quality that you're not used to seeing in other films."

The style of fight was the most important thing to nail down for Godzilla vs. Kong as most moviegoers are simply seeing this one on the big screen for the entertainment of watching them duke it out. If the early reactions are any indication, Wingard did just that. However, he has a legacy for this movie in mind, as well. Knowing that both the characters and the visual effects which are being used in this film will quickly evolve over time. Wingard wants to see his movie and these action sequences hold up down the line.

"It has sort of its own timelessness because, ultimately when you're doing CGI stuff, it's always outdated within a couple of years," Wingard says. "So, what's really important is to preserve just, like the wow factor of it, you know, like, you know you just need audience to be invested in it, because it's like, you look at things like King Kong, the original, which is stop motion. It's like those effects don't look like photo realistic or anything like that, but they look great. They actually still hold up in their own way and it's not because they're just, like, real. Sometimes reality isn't important. It's like, you have to keep that in mind but you can still make things feel grounded and interesting without having to just like sacrifice a lot of things for that."

Watch the full interview with Wingard in the video above. Are you hyped for Godzilla vs. Kong? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!

Godzilla vs. Kong hits theaters and HBO Max on March 31.