Okay, let's start this off by saying,
Nuke The Fridge, isn't known for scoops, but every so often they post a juicy nugget, such as the
Man Of Steel leaked set photos. So, take this as merely a rumor.
"Many reports have claimed that the plot for Legendary’s Godzilla film will revolve around the damage humans have caused to the earth’s environment. That being said if this peace of RUMOR turns out to be true it would make perfect sense. We call it a “rumor” until it’s confirmed.
We just received a scoop that the main monster that Godzilla will battle in the reboot is Hedorah (ヘドラ, Hedora) also known as The Smog Monster." - Nuke The Fridge
Who is Hedorah?
The Smog Monster, first appeared in the 1971 film,
Godzilla vs. Hedorah. It starts off the film as a microscopic alien lifeform that feeds off of Earth's pollution. Sounds kind of nice actually, perhaps he can stop global warming.
Hedorah was an alien life form from the Dark gas nebula in the Orion Constellation that landed on Earth and began feeding on pollution. Hedorah's actions soon gained the attention of Godzilla, who attacked the Smog Monster as he was feeding off of a smokestack. At the time, Hedorah was still in a young form, and was easily trounced by Godzilla. The two creatures had a series of battles across Japan, and Hedorah continued to grow bigger and stronger, and achieved a flying saucer-like form, allowing him to fly and spread sulfuric acid mist across Japan while destroying many factories. Hedorah and Godzilla had a final showdown near Mt. Fuji, in which Hedorah achieved his final form, a humanoid, walking pile of sludge. Thanks to his acidic, poisonous body, as well as his lethal eye bolts, Hedorah very nearly put an end to Godzilla in their struggle. However, mankind had built a pair of gigantic electrodes near the warring monster. Their plan was that, since Hedorah was merely sludge, they would use the electrodes to dry him out. During a period of the fight where Godzilla was knocked out, Hedorah was lured between the electrodes. Unfortunately, a fuse was blown, and the electrodes were useless.
Thankfully, Godzilla quickly came to the rescue again, using his ray to re-energize the electrodes. Badly dehydrated by their electricity, Hedorah tried to escape, but thanks to Godzilla's newfound power of flight, (by breathing highly-pressurized, ordinary radiation breath continuously at the ground) was returned to the electrodes and was dried out completely. Sensing that there was still wet sludge within Hedorah's dried out husk, Godzilla proceeded to rip out Hedorah's innards, then used the electrodes to fry them. Godzilla had finally slain the hellacious Smog Monster, but not without a price - he had lost one of his eyes, and his right hand was burnt down to the bone. At the end of the movie, a picture of another Hedorah is seen in some water, with the caption 'And yet another one?', but no sequel to the film was produced. godzilla.wikia
What I find most interesting about Hedorah, is that the creatures doesn't have one set shape. In the 1971 film the creatures goes through four different transformations; a big tadpole, a quadrupedal reptile, a flying saucer and lastly, a humanoid shape. I bring that up because new footage was shown at Comic-Con yesterday and it features a second monster, and that monster was described as: praying mantis-like, and a massively scaled insect with long spider legs. Not exactly what Hedorah looked like in the 1971, but it be one of many looks for the creature... if it is in the film.
Legendary Pictures: Godzilla -- An epic rebirth to Toho's iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure pits the world's most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence. Gareth Edwards directs Godzilla, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, and Juliette Binoche, with David Strathairn and Bryan Cranston. The screenplay is by Max Borenstein, Frank Darabont, and Dave Callaham. Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing with Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Alex Garcia and Patricia Whitcher are the executive producers, alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira. The film is from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures.
GODZILLA will stomp into theaters May 16, 2014.