The MonsterVerse franchise has grossed over $2.5 billion worldwide since launching with Gareth Edwards' Godzilla in 2014. After that, Jordan Vogt-Roberts took charge of Kong: Skull Island in 2017 before Michael Dougherty expanded the MonsterVerse in 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
In 2021, we finally got a full-blown crossover in Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs. Kong. The filmmaker returned for 2024's Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but has now moved on from telling stories in this world.
Next up is Grant Sputore's Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, a movie deep into post-production but still very much being kept under wraps by Warner Bros. and Legendary. Test screenings have been taking place since the start of this year, and as we first reported on SFFGazette.com, we now have some additional insights from prolific Godzilla YouTuber D Man1954.
Sharing intel from a February screening—so bear in mind that a lot could have changed since then—he said, "[It] went incredibly well and the movie was received very positively. I actually know three individuals who attended the screening. All three of them really liked it."
"By pretty much every account I've heard, the general atmosphere in the theater was that the movie was an improvement over New Empire and maybe even an improvement over Godzilla vs. Kong," he continued. "All three of them have compared it to something of a blend between Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong in terms of tone and style. Not in terms of plot or subject matter."
"People really enjoyed Supernova, which makes me feel very confident and excited to see what they do with this. My big fear obviously is that they were going to go too far and jump the shark. And there are elements that I'm definitely worried about heading into this new movie. It's a little more serious than New Empire."
"The stakes are a little higher and more serious, and the world is a little more expansive and developed," D Man1954 concluded.
This definitely sounds like what many MonsterVerse fans want to hear, especially as recent instalments have veered into comedy territory, with arguably very little in common with those earlier, much more foreboding takes on the franchise's Titans.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has proved that the franchise can still take itself seriously, and it will be interesting to learn how this blockbuster balances that more serious tone with the epic action fans are hoping for. For many Kaiju lovers, Godzilla Minus One is a very tough act to follow.
Grant Sputore (I Am Mother) directs Godzilla x Kong: Supernova from a script by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings writer Dave Callaham. Few official plot details have been revealed beyond plans for Godzilla and King Kong to face off against a new cataclysmic world-ending threat.
At the China Licensing Expo in April, an early plot synopsis teased, "As the sixth instalment in the 'MonsterVerse' film series, this movie will delve deeper into the delicate relationship of coexistence and trust between humans and prehistoric behemoths."
"Meanwhile, the earth-shaking monster storm triggered by the epic clash between Godzilla and Kong," it continued, "the two guardians of Earth’s ecological balance, will once again sweep across the big screen!"
The cast includes Kaitlyn Dever, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Matthew Modine, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Sam Neill, and Dan Stevens, who reprises his role as veterinarian Trapper Beasley from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Godzilla x Kong: Supernova arrives in theaters on March 26, 2027.