MonsterVerse

The **MonsterVerse series** or simply the **MonsterVerse** is a series of giant monster films featuring Godzilla and King Kong produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. It is the second adaptation of Godzilla by a Hollywood studio, following TriStar Pictures' *GODZILLA* in 1998. Legendary Pictures acquired the rights to produce an American *Godzilla* film in 2010 after being approached by producer Brian Rogers, who was attempting to secure funding for Yoshimitsu Banno's new *Godzilla* project *Godzilla 3-D* during the current hiatus in Toho's *Godzilla* series. Legendary opted to produce its own feature-length American *Godzilla* film rather than Banno's short IMAX film and negotiated with Toho to acquire the rights.

The MonsterVerse began in 2014 with *Godzilla*, and its success led to the swift greenlighting of a sequel co-starring Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. The next film, *Kong: Skull Island*, was announced later that year, although Legendary did not reveal that the two took place in the same universe until 2015. *Kong: Skull Island* was released in 2017, followed by *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* in 2019 and the crossover film *Godzilla vs. Kong* in 2021.

## Films

* *Godzilla* (2014)
* *Kong: Skull Island* (2017)
* *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* (2019)
* *Godzilla vs. Kong* (2021)

### Potential future

On March 25, 2019, producers Alex Garcia and Zach Shields discussed the potential plans for the MonsterVerse beyond 2020, and suggested the possibility that Legendary could continue the series beyond 2020 if *Godzilla: King of the Monsters* and *Godzilla vs. Kong* performed well. On May 7, Michael Dougherty expressed interest in directing a prequel set in prehistoric times exploring how primitive humans survived against the Titans, humanity's first encounter with Godzilla, and how its relationship with Godzilla was christened.

On April 27, 2021, following the success of *Godzilla vs. Kong*, *The Hollywood Reporter* disclosed that director Adam Wingard was in early talks with Legendary Pictures to direct a fifth MonsterVerse film, with *Son of Kong* a potential title.

Max Borenstein told ScreenRant on August 3, 2021, "I’ve heard some exciting things that are happening that I can't divulge. They have a great handle on things there and I certainly have thoughts and am always excited when I get involved in them. I think it's in good hands and with the success of *Godzilla vs. Kong*, there will be some new, interesting installments coming. Without being able to say any of that officially, you can look at the fact that that film performed and people really responded to it. I think it was really wonderful timing for people to have that towards the end of that surge in the pandemic, people really felt eager to see something that was fun and joyful in the cinema and it was really exciting to have our movie be that movie."

## Television

Netflix announced a *Skull Island* animated TV series on January 27, 2021, with animation by Powerhouse Animation Studios. It is unknown when the series will take place or when it will be released.

## Other media

In addition to the films, Legendary and Warner Bros. have licensed MonsterVerse-related media including books and video games.

### Books[edit | edit source]

* *Godzilla: Awakening* (2014) - graphic novel prequel to *Godzilla* (2014)
* *Godzilla: The Official Movie Novelization* (2014)
* *Godzilla: The Art of Destruction* (2014)
* *Godzilla: With Light and Sound!* (2014) - sticker book for *Godzilla* (2014); includes a Godzilla toy
* *Skull Island: The Birth of Kong* (2017) - four-issue limited comic series sequel/prequel to *Kong: Skull Island*; later republished as a trade paperback
* *Kong: Skull Island - The Official Movie Novelization* (2017)
* *The Art and Making of Kong: Skull Island* (2017)
* *Godzilla: Aftershock* (2019) - graphic novel prequel to *Godzilla: King of the Monsters*
* *Godzilla: King of the Monsters - The Official Movie Novelization* (2019)
* *The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters* (2019)
* *Kingdom Kong* (2021) - graphic novel prequel to *Godzilla vs. Kong*
* *Godzilla Dominion* (2021) - graphic novel prequel to *Godzilla vs. Kong*
* *Kong and Me* (2021) - picture book
* *Godzilla vs. Kong: The Official Movie Novelization* (2021)
* *Godzilla vs. Kong: Sometimes Friends Fight (But They Always Make Up)* (2021) - picture book
* *Godzilla vs. Kong: One Will Fall - The Art of the Ultimate Battle Royale* (2021)