Elizabeth Ludlow of The Walking Dead fame has joined the cast of forthcoming MonsterVerse installment Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Ludlow is perhaps best known for playing Arat, a loyal and aggressive member of Negan's saviors, in the AMC zombie comic book adaptation. The actress also appeared in this year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in a small role and has featured in TV shows such as Powers, Hindsight and Satisfaction.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the sequel to the 2014 Godzilla reboot directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Bryan Cranson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. However, the new movie will also be a part of Legendary Entertainment's MonsterVerse. The film will be the third offering in the series after Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island but since the MonsterVerse was announced after the 2014 Godzilla, the sequel is likely to be a less standalone venture.
Godzilla 2 has already cast the likes of Millie Bobby Brown and Charles Dance, as well as returnees Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins and according to Deadline, Elizabeth Ludlow now joins that already impressive list. The actress herself has confirmed the news on her Twitter account but details surrounding the role currently remain firmly under wraps.
The part is likely to be the actress' most high-profile gig to date, as her character in The Walking Dead has largely been a supporting figure. It could be interpreted that this casting news may spell the end for Arat's zombie apocalypse tenure but comic fans will know that the character has a significant role to play in events to come, suggesting that Ludlow may balance her new Hollywood duties with her Waling Dead day job.
There is plenty of skepticism surrounding the recent influx of shared cinematic universes such as the MonsterVerse and the Dark Universe. Studios seem to be jumping on the bandwagon after the success of Marvel's MCU but whilst comic heroes sharing a world makes total sense, that doesn't necessarily mean the same applies for other sets of movie characters. Tellingly, Universal's Dark Universe has already got off to a rocky start with The Mummy which suggests that audiences aren't willing to invest in cinematic universes if they don't show signs of quality.
With that said, the MonsterVerse has already had a more positive response, with both Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island receiving mostly encouraging reviews and the franchise grossing over $1 billion thus far. Furthermore, King Kong and Godzilla have already clashed in the cinematic arena and the prospect of them doing so again with modern film-making technology is surely a tantalizing one for many film fans.
MORE - Godzilla: King of Monsters Official Synopsis
Source: Deadline
