Godzilla vs. Kong is the biggest MonsterVerse film yet, and the conclusion for Adam Wingard’s massive blockbuster proves that. Obvious spoilers ahead, but for those who have seen the film know, the movie’s climax includes the two Titans battling in the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong. At a certain point towards the ending of Godzilla vs. Kong, however, the true villain of the film is revealed – the horrifying mechanical monster nicknamed Mechagodzilla. This brings both Kong and Godzilla together long enough to fight the evil machine. What’s interesting is that Godzilla: King of the Monsters screenwriter, Max Borenstein, had planned the character to be introduced for quite some time.
Here’s what Max Borenstein recently stated about writing the character Mechagodzilla, via Den of Geek:
“I had originally written Mechagodzilla into [the previous film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters],” says screenwriter Max Borenstein, who has worked on the scripts and/or stories for all four films in the MonsterVerse, beginning with 2014’s Godzilla. “It was very similar in the sense of being an opportunity for the human characters to have some agency against the scale of the monsters, which is one of the hardest parts of these stories.”
It would’ve made a lot of sense, as Godzilla: King of the Monsters included a wide variety of characters from the original Toho Godzilla films. While director Michael Dougherty did include Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah alongside Godzilla – it looks like Mechagodzilla wasn’t ready to make the cut. Luckily, Godzilla vs. Kong allowed a new opportunity to use the character.
“I was really happy that we had brought it back in Godzilla vs. Kong, because it felt like one of the main challenges of Godzilla vs. Kong is neither Godzilla nor Kong is a villain. We’re rooting in different ways for each.”
As fans root for these two monsters, they eventually discover that Apex Cybernetics – the company behind Mechagodzilla – requires a massive power source for the machine. They use Kong’s venture into Hollow Earth as a means to steal the environment’s power source. This allows Mechagodzilla, which is being controlled telepathically via one of King Ghidorah’s skulls, to charge up and fight both Godzilla and Kong.
“It felt essential to have a third thing,” says Borenstein about having Godzilla and Kong team up against Mechagodzilla. “Round one goes to Godzilla, and round two goes to Kong. The question is in round three, rather than having one or the other win, how can we have the two of them develop a grudging respect for one another and go up against the third thing? Mechagodzilla felt like this perfect route into that.”
It seems that Godzilla and Kong were always intended to stand side by side in the ending of Godzilla vs Kong, no matter how badly beaten Kong ended up:
“Neither Godzilla nor Kong were ever going to lose,” says Borenstein when we ask if there was ever a version where one of the two stars didn’t walk away. “There were different moments of how far we took it in terms of Kong taking a beating, but the two of them were always going to gang back up and work together.”
Eventually, the two settle their score, and Kong makes his way to Hollow Earth. While Godzilla swims away in the ocean, Kong is underground, left alone to rule the newly discovered environment. It’s an ending that shows just how powerful the Titans are and will continue to be when compared to humanity.
“They reveal to us the fact that we’re all connected,” says Borenstein regarding the themes behind the monsters. “Godzilla and Kong, creatures of this scale that can hop around the world and touch everyone haphazardly and create tumult and chaos, reveal that in our globalized world, we are all connected for better and for worse. To me, that’s really what this movie is kind of all about.”
Naturally, it’s a movie that lives up to its title and then some. Godzilla vs. Kong is currently playing in theaters and available to stream on HBO Max.