Warner Bros. has finally released the official trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong. We've been getting glimpses of the trailer for the past week and have even been treated to a new poster for the epic showdown. The latest chapter in the MonsterVerse follows on the heels of Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Kong: Skull Island. Godzilla vs. Kong is also set to be one of the big Warner Bros. tentpoles coming to HBO Max over the course of 2021. The showdown between a skyscraper-sized ape and a mountain-sized lizard will be the highlight of the spring movie season, with larger-than-life features like The Suicide Squad, Space Jam 2: A New Legacy, and Mortal Kombat arriving thereafter.
Directed by Adam Wingard, Godzilla vs. Kong sees these titular movie monsters revive an old feud between their ancient species with humanity caught in the middle. Per the official synopsis, "As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans’ very origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever." The trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong also teases a starry human cast led by Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, and Millie Bobby Brown, as well as Demián Bechir, Julian Dennison, and Eiza Gonzalez.
Between the shots of Godzilla and Kong coming to ground-shaking blows, numerous reactions shots of various humans going slack-jawed, the brief teases of Kong's tender side, a kaiju battle in the jungle, and a neon-soaked city at one of the many battlegrounds, there is a lot to process in this new Godzilla vs. Kong trailer. So, let's unpack it. Below, you'll find 69 (noice) images pulled right from the trailer, plus our analysis of what's going on.
Godzilla vs. Kong is set for release in theaters and on HBO Max on March 26. Check out the mind-blowing new images from the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer below. For more, check out the entire schedule of Warner Bros. movies coming to HBO Max in 2021.
At the start of the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer, there's trouble right here, right here in River City. Okay, so technically it's not River City but still — something is exploding and typically, we don't want that happening in a downtown setting. It seems something has awoken from its subterranean lair which puts all of humanity on high alert. We're then flown to what looks like a fleet of cargo ships where Nathan Lind (Skarsgård), Ilene Andrews (Hall), Maya Simmons (Gonzalez), and Jia (Kaylee Hottle) are housed. Lind seems to be the leader of a retrieval mission that must capture Kong. Meanwhile, Andrews appears to be a scientist or anthropologist who has bonded with Jia, a young girl who was left alone in the forest and formed a deep emotional bond with Kong. Turns out, Kong is a big ol' softie and will only listen to Jia.
Jia has also bonded with Andrews. So, together, it seems a kind of family unit has been formed. One of the most stunning shots in the trailer at this point is the shot of Jia going out to visit her best friend Kong in the middle of the night. It seems this relationship will be the beating heart of Godzilla vs. Kong. No matter what, we can count on Kong doing whatever it takes to protect Jia. That means fighting Godzilla, who gets closer and closer to the cargo ship transporting the humans and Kong. In one of the tensest trailer shots, we see young Jia put her hand up to the wall of her cabin, feeling the vibrations as Godzilla hones in on the ship.
A substantial portion of the trailer is dedicated to this epic, at-sea first battle between Godzilla and Kong. It's unclear how Godzilla is able to find the ship carrying Kong or why exactly he is doing it now. But Kong's spidey senses flare up and he is not at all pleased to see another ridiculously large monster coming into his space. The humans in the fleet are seen attempting to fight off Godzilla, but they should know by now that getting this huge lizard to simply go away is easier said than done. Naturally, there's a lot of explosions thanks to Godzilla and a lot of looking fearfully into the distance by the humans.
The trailer does an excellent job of showing us just how large these MonsterVerse bad boys are and showing it from all angles. Godzilla looks absolutely astonishing when viewed from the ground. However, Kong doesn't seem at all phased by this large-and-in-charge creature from the deep. Instead, Kong appears to have chosen violence on this day and winds up to deliver a jaw-shattering punch right as music for the trailer kicks into high gear. It's at this point that you should be on your feet and cheering for the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer, which has just confirmed the actual movie is going to rip.
And if that wasn't cool enough, we get a killer shot of Godzilla shooting his lightning laser beam out of his body, which forces Kong to be quick on his feet and jump into the ocean as the boat he is standing on explodes.
I mean...YES. Absolutely YES.
We're also reminded that there are plenty of other stars in Godzilla vs. Kong when the trailer moves away from this epic battle. We're introduced to Walter Simmons (Bechir), who, just guessing based on that surname, is the father of Maya. There's also Ren Serizawa (Shun Oguri), who is standing in a control room, but it's unclear what exactly is going on. Godzilla: King of the Monsters' favorite frazzled dad Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) is back as is his daughter, heroine Madison Russell (Brown). She is joined by Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison). The pair are tracking Monarch's movements via secret documents and press clippings as well as Godzilla's movements, leading them to Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry).
We're also given a major plot tease regarding the reason behind Kong and Godzilla's cataclysmic fight. At one point, it looks like we jump back to Skull Island where Kong discovers an ancient handprint. This looks to be the handprint of a member of Kong's species, giving him a connection to his past and giving him resolve about the battle he is about to participate in. As Kong does this, Andrews is heard in voiceover remarking that a centuries-old fight between Kong and Godzilla's species has existed. Kong is also shown literally murdering two more kaiju monsters. The monsters appear to be Warbat, a.ka. Nozuki, a serpent-like kaiju but it's unclear since they're getting the pulp beaten out of them by Kong.
In the final moments of the trailer, we watch a preview of another major setpiece: Kong and Godzilla battling in the city. As the humans look on in fear, Kong approaches Godzilla in the heart of a neon-lit city. (It is arguably one of the coolest-looking city sets I've seen in a while and a nice way to switch up the standard and drab downtown battle scene you find in tentpoles of this sort.) Kong now has a battle ax and, like, YES?! Even better, Kong knows how to use that thing because we see him flying through the air and using it to deflect Godzilla's lightning laser beam. If your face isn't melting from the heat this trailer is throwing, I don't think we can be friends.
And then the trailer just cuts to the Godzilla vs. Kong logo. Boom. Done. Is it March 26 yet?