Godzilla: King of the Monsters intentionally left the door open for more Toho kaiju to appear in the MonsterVerse. Legendary Pictures may only have the rights to a handful of the monsters in Toho’s Godzilla library, but if more become available to them, it won’t be too difficult for them to be included in future installments.
So far, four Toho monsters - Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah - have appeared in the MonsterVerse, with at least one more expected to arrive in the next movie, Godzilla vs. Kong. The upcoming showdown between Godzilla and Kong will supposedly incorporate Mechagodzilla, whose presence in the film was spoiled by a toy leak. As for the rest of Legendary’s Titans, all them are original to the MonsterVerse. Four of these Titans – Scylla, Behemoth, Methuselah, and the third M.U.T.O. – all appeared in King of the Monsters, with several other Titans having their names revealed on one of Monarch’s monitor screens; the new Titans were all inspired by mythological gods and monsters.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters gave a specific number of known Titans in the MonsterVerse - 17 - but director Mike Dougherty has confirmed that this number doesn’t rule out more Toho kaiju appearing later on. In fact, the movie the does the exact opposite. In King of the Monsters, Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) refers to the number of Titans as “17 and counting”. The wording of this is important, because as Dougherty has explained, this means Monarch and others are “probably discovering a new hibernating Titan every month or so” [via SlashFilm].
Dougherty has said that though they would have liked to have used more of Toho’s characters in King of the Monsters, going this route would have been expensive. It was decided instead for the movie to make it clear there are more Titans in the MonsterVerse than just the 17 that were previously confirmed. In other words, a future Godzilla movie can reveal that creatures like Anguirus, Titanosaurus, and Baragon are alive somewhere without retconning the Godzilla sequel. Also, Dougherty name-dropped Gigan and King Caesar as Titans that could be hiding in the MonsterVerse.
Even if Godzilla vs. Kong’s only new Toho monster is Mechagodzilla, how King of the Monsters described its Titan situation creates all sorts of possibilities for the future. By the time Godzilla 3 rolls around, if it happens at all, Monarch may have established several more outposts all over the planet to watch over their newest discoveries. And if Monarch is uncovering new Titans on a regular basis, there’s no telling how many there are at this point. There could be Titans dwelling so deep within Hollow Earth that they won’t be uncovered until Monarch explores the tunnels more thoroughly. Some could be more original Titans, while others could be familiar faces from past Godzilla movies. This way, the MonsterVerse can pay off King of the Monsters’ Anguirus tease, build toward Toho’s Monster Island, and pit Godzilla against Gigan.
