Why Kong Is the True Star of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens this week and while it prominently features both iconic characters, one has a much more satisfying, complete arc than the other. And there are several very good reasons for it.

“This story in general is a bit more of the origin story of Kong stepping into his own as King Kong,” director Adam Wingard told io9. “So naturally, it took us in that direction.” And indeed, similar to the previous film Godzilla vs. Kong, in Godzilla x Kong the ape once again shines brighter than the lizard. Kong is the one with the humanity and emotional connection, unlike Godzilla who is much more menacing and one-dimensional.

“The thing is, with Godzilla, as a filmmaker you have to respect him in a different way,” Wingard said. “You can’t be as close to Godzilla as you can Kong. He’s a bit more unknowable. So you always have to treat Godzilla with a bit more reverence. I mean, he’s got ‘God’ in his title. That’s not by mistake, right? But with Kong, you can really get into his head and his personality and his journey is an emotional one. And that’s the one that we’re kind of empathizing with as the audience.”

In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, while Kong has found a physical home in Hollow Earth, he struggles with the belief that he’s the last of his kind. The journey mirrors the human character Jia, who feels similarly. And those parallels are another major reason why Kong is at the forefront of the film.

“[Jia’s] looking for her place in the world and the people that she belongs with. And Kong’s doing the same,” Wingard said. “And I think that’s one of the important things when you’re doing one of these monster films is being able to find a human story that isn’t separate from the monster’s story. It’s intertwined, even if they’re not always together. There’s an echo. So you’re always following the same thread and in the same thematic way.”

There isn’t a similar echo with Godzilla because, well, there just can’t be. Unlike Kong, Godzilla has a very strong parent company in Toho, which owns and controls the characters. And Wingard said there’s much collaboration with the company when using their character.

“Toho definitely has certain things that they’re willing to do and not do with Godzilla,” Wingard said. “And it’s all to protect him as a character and as an icon. I mean the last thing they want is us to suddenly have Godzilla coming in and juggling and slipping on a banana peel or something.”

That’s not to say Godzilla in this world isn’t pushing some boundaries. Wingard said he and Toho went back and forth on several things–some of which were allowed and others weren’t, though he wouldn’t get into specifics. But those limits do, inherently, change the dynamic of the characters. “We always try to push the limits because you want to see [Godzilla] do new things,” he said. “Whereas with Kong, this version of the character is entirely the MonsterVerse version. So there’s really no limits to Kong.”

And when one character can do anything, and the other can’t, it’s easy to see why one is favored over the other. But what happens when the two titans share the screen again? Find out when Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters Friday.

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