[Editor’s note: Spoilers for Godzilla vs. Kong follow below.]
While Godzilla vs. Kong is technically a sequel to three other films, it largely stands on its own as a solitary adventure. After all, audiences coming to a movie with a title like this are mostly here for the monster fights, and director Adam Wingard’s blockbuster delivers on that level – and then some. But in terms of connective tissue to 2014’s Godzilla, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there’s almost none. Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler reprise their roles from King of the Monsters, but neither character really has much impact on the plot, and human characters played by Alexander Skarsgard and Rebecca Hall – who were not in previous films – have more to do with Godzilla and King Kong directly.
But there is one major Godzilla vs. Kong Easter Egg that connects this movie to previous films that you almost certainly missed, because it’s not exactly spelled out in the film. You would have had to read the credits closely to pick up on it, but it’s a biggie.
The character of Ren Serizawa, played by Shun Oguri, plays a pretty vital role in the story of Godzilla vs. Kong. As an executive at Apex Cybernetics, Demian Bichir’s tech company that makes all the technology in the film possible, Serizawa is spearheading Apex’s development of Mechagodzilla – a technological foil for Godzilla that can be controlled by humans. Serizawa controls Mechagodzilla by plugging his brain into the skull of Ghidorah, the three-headed monster from King of the Monsters. Serizawa faces an unceremonious end when Ghidorah’s consciousness possesses the mecha and electrocutes the human inside, but this human is actually the descendant of a major character from the other movies.
Yes indeed, Ren Serizawa is the son of Monarch scientist Ishirō Serizawa, played by Ken Watanabe in Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In those films, as one of the founding members of Monarch, Watanabe’s character was a wise monster whisperer of sorts, informing the other dumbfounded humans of the titan mythology and Godzilla’s place in the world order. In King of the Monsters, Ishirō sacrifices himself to revive Godzilla and increase his power so that he can defeat King Ghidorah.
It’s ironic, then, that his son goes on to use Ghidorah’s corpse as a sort of ship to pilot, and this story point was no doubt left on the cutting room floor as Wingard worked to cut Godzilla vs. Kong down to a two-hour running time.
Oguri spoke a bit about his role during a set visit for Godzilla vs. Kong that Collider attended along with a group of other journalists, noting why he strayed a bit from his father’s path:
“His father was very occupied solving world problems with Godzilla, and he did sort of follow into his father’s footsteps, but he doesn’t believe he was heard by his father. In general, he is a character who wants to protect the Earth and that is his goal in general. I think the means to get to the goal is a little bit different from everyone else, and his father.”
Again, none of this is actually addressed in Godzilla vs. Kong – Serizawa is basically just introduced as a lackey to Bichir’s character, and a somewhat evil one at that. So if you decide to watch Godzilla vs. Kong again, pay close attention to Oguri’s character for a fun little Easter Egg surprise.