It's already common knowledge that Kong: Skull Island takes place in the same universe as Legendary's 2014 Godzilla and the upcoming sequel Godzilla: King of Monsters. But besides being set in the same cinematic universe, there is another connection between Godzilla and Kong. The organization Monarch, introduced in 2014's Godzilla, is a government group that goes around the world seeking out giant monsters and it was previously revealed that Monarch will indeed figure into Kong: Skull Island.
If you know anything about shadowy government organizations in monster movies, you know that they are seldom up to any good. Sure enough, it turns out Monarch is not exactly playing straight with the other characters stranded on Skull Island, and this leads to some understandable tension.
In a new clip exclusive to Yahoo!, John Goodman's Skull Island character is revealed to be an agent of Monarch. A tense scene plays out when Goodman tells Samuel L. Jackson all about the shadowy organization after Kong has already torn through Jackson's men. Goodman tells Jackson that yes, Monarch already knew Kong was on the island before Jackson and his people arrived. Needless to say, Jackson is not thrilled to learn that Goodman failed to warn him about the dangers of Skull Island before his men encountered a giant murderous ape (not to mention all the other beasts populating the uncharted landmass).
Besides letting us enjoy the exciting sight of SLJ holding a gun on Goodman, this new clip offers more insight into the plot of Kong: Skull Island. We now know that the group of soldiers accompanied by photographer Brie Larson ends up on Skull Island on purpose, because Monarch wants to know more about Kong. Goodman indicates that the plan is to "send in the cavalry," but since he's already lied to Jackson before, there's no guarantee Monarch really wants to destroy Kong. As we've learned in King Kong movies past, it's a big mistake to try and imprison Kong, so hopefully Monarch doesn't try that particular move.
How the activities of Monarch in Skull Island will impact the MonsterVerse going forward is the big question. We already know that Skull Island features a post-credits scene, but it's anyone's guess what this sequence will be used to set up. Possibly it will tease the planned Godzilla vs. Kong movie tentatively scheduled to come out in 2020 (though teasing things that far ahead of time can be a bit perilous, as Buckaroo Banzai taught us).
The argument could be made that the Monarch angle makes Kong: Skull Island feel a little bit too much like Alien, with its story of a group of people unwittingly being led into danger and having to fight back. But we won't know for sure if those comparisons are warranted until we see the story play out.
NEXT: Kong Skull Island Extended Synopsis
Source: Yahoo!
