If All Hell Broke Loose, Godzilla x Kong Was Ready to Replace Mothra With Another Unused Titan: “There was briefly another character”

Adam Wingard’s 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. It is the fifth movie in the MonsterVerse franchise which stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, and more. The recently released movie showcases Kong’s encounter with his species in the Hollow Earth. He must unite again with Godzilla to stop the tyrannical leader, the powerful, frost-breathing Titan, from destroying the surface.

The movie premiered on March 29, 2024, and opened with mixed responses from critics and the audience. Critics compared the movie with Godzilla Minus One, which was released in 2023. However, the movie managed to gross over $436.5 million at the box office, making it the fifth-highest movie in 2024. Wingard revealed in a recent interview that he wanted to replace one beloved character with another Titan.

Adam Wingard talks about why MonsterVerse is gaining momentum

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard admitted in his recent interview with The Wrap that he always knew he’d return for a follow-up to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong. He mentioned that he had felt that there was a lot of potential that he knew how to approach and was excited to jump right back on it. He mentioned,

“Having made Godzilla vs. Kong, I had this newfound sense of confidence in terms of how to approach the monsters as fully realized characters and how to tell a movie from their point of view.”

Wingard added that the thought of coming back for a follow-up excited him, especially for a movie that is visual-driven. He mentioned that the 10-year-old dreamt about this very moment. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens appeared in the movie.

In his interview with THR, the director explained why he thinks that MonsterVerse is interesting to people. He added that, along with VFX, there is a sense that they are not only continuing the story but are also able to be innovative within cinema itself. He further added,

“I wanted to do something that was groundbreaking in the sense that it’s not often that you have an opportunity with a major tentpole big-budget film to do a good portion of the film with no dialogue and just be completely driven by visuals.”

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Wingard noted Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire was that chance thanks to Godzilla vs. Kong. He mentioned that, apart from the chaos and havoc that the audience will see, he was more interested in the moments of Kong’s life in Hollow Earth.

Adam Wingard admits to having second thoughts about replacing Mothra with Phosphera in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 

In his interview with The Wrap, the director revealed that while the beloved character Mothra, dubbed Queen of the Monsters, returned to The New Empire, there was a time when the team had second thoughts about bringing her back. He revealed that if Mothra were replaced, it would have been by Phosphera.

“There was briefly another character called Phosphera that we had in place of Mothra. But Mothra was always the character that was written about. And there’s a false narrative online that this other character tested badly, and then we were like, ‘Let’s get Mothra.’”

Wingard revealed that the plan was always Mothra, but they were not sure if they could have her back (rights issues). However, he shared that once they tested the movie, they had a previous version of it, and things cleared up for them; hence, Mothra was back.

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The director specifically mentioned that he does not like that some people think that it was not the plan, along with noting that the first draft of the script always said Mothra. Fans had been waiting for her return and were excited to see her share the screen with Godzilla and Kong.

Talking about Phosphera, it was included as a wall carving in the Iwi temple set. As depicted on WikiZilla, Phosphera is a humanoid with avian influences, featuring feathered wings and a triangular tail with a crest on its head.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is playing in cinemas.