A new photo from Godzilla: King of the Monsters shows the Chen family's four generations of twin sisters aka the MonsterVerse's spin on Mothra's fairies. When it came time for 2014's Godzilla to reintroduce a new generation to Japan's most iconic kaiju, the sillier elements of the Godzilla franchise were stripped away. This meant things like the twin fairies who are often shown summoning and communicating with the giant moth, Mothra, in Toho's Godzilla films do not appear. However, the idea isn't completely absent from King of the Monsters, even if the fairies are.
First appearing in her own solo movie, 1961's Mothra, she would go on to become a recurring character in the Godzilla franchise, often appearing to either assist or fight Godzilla, depending on the story. For the MonsterVerse, Mothra is again in helper mode, and in fact, is shown to have developed a symbiotic relationship with Godzilla. In the final fight between Godzilla and Ghidorah in King of the Monsters, Mothra gives her life in order to grant Godzilla the power necessary to defeat Ghidorah. It's a scene for inspired by Toho's Godzilla movies, and it's just one of the many ways the MonsterVerse is influenced by Godzilla's cinematic history. Twin sisters, Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling Chen (both portrayed Zhang Ziyi), are another, with theses third-generation Monarch employees whose family has been studying Mothra for decades standing-in for the fairies.
While participating in a live watch party for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, director Michael Dougherty shared (via the official King of the Monsters Twitter account) an image of all four generations of the Chen family - Dr. Chen and her sister, her daughters, their mother and aunt, and grandmother and great aunt. The photo appears briefly in the movie, but it can now be viewed more fully. Check out the photo of four generations of the Chen family, below.
Mothra is one of the Titans who Monarch has been studying the longest, with the Chens' mother and aunt having participated in an archaeological dig on Infant Island (the setting for 1961's Mothra) for Monarch during the 1960s. More recently, the Chen sisters discovered Mothra's temple in the Yunnan province of China, using research about strange, ethereal singing heard in the mountains to locate it. Ling Chen was then also present at Mothra's temple when she emerged from her cocoon.
Of course, the Chen family's connection to Mothra may go much deeper than simply working for Monarch. After all, it's unusual for a family to include such closely repeated generations of twins. Maybe the Chens are the descendants of those who originally worshiped Mothra? Maybe in those ancient times, Mothra was attended by twin priestesses? And maybe, the Chen family's female line stems from those priestesses? Thanks to this high quality image from Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there may be yet another clue: each set of Chen twins is wearing an identical necklace with a pendant that looks oddly like the chrysalis of a moth. Might this be another hint at the family's deeper connection to Mothra? It seems Dougherty is certainly suggesting it's a possibility. Fans will just have to hope that either Godzilla vs Kong or another future MonsterVerse movie reveals more.
Source: Michael Dougherty