Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong has been a massive success for Legendary and Warner Bros. The movie took its chances at being an explosive monster mash with all sorts of references and unhinged sensibilities. It’s worth noting, however, that these references extend far beyond mentioning previous Godzilla or King Kong films. In fact, Adam Wingard has just revealed that he snuck a reference to Jason X into Godzilla vs. Kong.
It’s a surprising choice, considering Jason X is one of the lesser loved Friday the 13th sequels. Nevertheless, for a film as crazy as Godzilla vs Kong, it does make perfect sense. Adam Wingard confirmed on Reddit just what this reference consisted of:
“The big reference that I haven’t seen anyone pick up on is when Kong folds up and kills Nozuki (aka warbat) that was inspired by the holo deck murder scene in Jason X when Jason picks up the camper in their sleeping bag and smashes them around,” he explained.
Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that this scene from Jason X was actually in itself a reference. Jason Voorhees killed someone in a similar manner in Friday the 13th Part 7, and the kill was reused in a much more exaggerated fashion for Jason X. Interestingly, Kane Hodder played Jason Voorhees in both Friday the 13th Part 7 and Jason X – and he’s often cited the sleeping bag kill from Part 7 as one of his favorites. So it’s interesting nevertheless to see the notoriety of this death scene live on in one of Hollywood’s biggest 2021 blockbusters. While it might be some time before we receive another Friday the 13th film, at least Adam Wingard was able to deliver some of the goods via Godzilla vs. Kong.
With that in mind, Jason X isn’t the only movie referenced in Godzilla vs. Kong. Adam Wingard also chose a pretty clever nod to Lethal Weapon. At one point, Kong has his shoulder dislocated – and smashes it back into place. Mel Gibson’s character Riggs performs the same act several times throughout the Lethal Weapon sequels. So it’s definitely fun to see so many varying types of films referenced in one of the biggest Kaiju films in recent history.
Hopefully with a little luck, Godzilla vs Kong won’t be the last film in the MonsterVerse. With as successful as the movie has been financially and critically, it should only be a matter of time before some kind of sequel is announced.