Godzilla vs. Kong director, Adam Wingard, confirms there will be Easter eggs from the original 1962 showdown. Next week, one of 2021's biggest movies is stomping into theaters and HBO Max. The latest trailer for the MonsterVerse blockbuster recently released, revealing more epic footage.
In 1962, TOHO released King Kong vs. Godzilla. The film was a big success. Godzilla fans outside Japan primarily know the film for its American cut, which changed the dialogue and added scenes of a newscaster commenting on the events. The superior Japanese version served as a satire of the Japanese television industry, with Kong being taken from his home for the sole purpose of publicity. The climactic battle between Godzilla and Kong features wrestling, a flip, and the destruction of Atami Castle. It's not surprising King Kong vs. Godzilla was such a hit. The idea of America's famous monster battling the sinister reptile of Japan was too good of an idea to pass up for audiences. Few could have predicted they would meet again 59 years later.
In our interview with Wingard, we asked the Godzilla vs. Kong director if there would be any Easter eggs to look forward to. Wingard responded:
I would say that the Easter eggs are more directly related to the original King Kong vs Godzilla - and I wouldn't even so much call them easter eggs as pretty obvious homages. One of them, obviously, people have seen - which is that the helicopters carrying Kong is a direct homage to the hot air balloon that's carrying them.
The homages that I had in the film were more based around 80s action movies and blockbuster cinema. Obviously, there's some Jaw stuff; there's a lot of Diehard; people have started picking up the Lethal Weapon 2 stuff in there. Weirdly, those were more of the Easter eggs, and there's all kinds of stuff in the film.
But when it came to Godzilla and Kong, though, I felt like the other monsterverse films had already done such a good job of layering in a lot of those kind of past homages and those kind of things. I felt like now it was just time to try to break as much new ground as possible. My take was always, 'Let's try to see these characters do things we've never seen them do before, as much as possible.'
Fans noticed the hot air balloon Easter egg in one of the TV spots, but it's certainly good to see the director confirming it was a purposeful homage. It will be fun seeing what other homages have been put in. Many fans are likely still hoping for a homage to the iconic King Kong vs. Godzilla scene where the ape tries to shove a tree down his opponent's throat. Of course, it would also be truly something if Godzilla vs. Kong has a scene where Godzilla jump-kicks Kong like in the original battle.
Godzilla vs. Kong is not a remake of the 1962 film. As such, the context for the two meeting is completely different. As stated in the film's marketing, Godzilla and Kong's ancestors had an ancient rivalry. In the modern day, Godzilla is attacking humanity for an unknown reason. This seems to be setting up Kong as the hero. There's plenty not known about the story, however. The reason for Godzilla's malice likely won't be revealed until fans see for themselves. It's also not known how a certain mechanical titan fits into the conflict. No matter what, though, it should simply be a joy seeing Godzilla and Kong come to blows in the literal biggest action one can ask for.
