Godzilla’s Name for King Kong Explains Why Their Battle Was Inevitable

Summary

• Godzilla and Kong’s rivalry in the MonsterVerse is not just for spectacle, but rooted in in-continuity reasons explained in “Godzilla: Dominion.”
• “Godzilla: Dominion” establishes Kong as ‘the Rival’ in Godzilla’s mind, setting the stage for the ultimate battle of the two supreme Kaijus.
• The comic gives fans a glimpse into Godzilla’s mind, revealing his planet-scoping power and the inevitable conflict with Kong due to their shared history.

It’s no secret that Godzilla and King Kong are rivals; the iconic Titans have faced off in two separate continuities, including the MonsterVerse film Godzilla vs Kong. While the visual spectacle of these behemoths battling it out on the big screen is reason enough to pit them against each other, there’s an in-continuity purpose for their fight as well, as Godzilla’s name for King Kong explains why their MonsterVerse battle was inevitable.

Godzilla: Dominion – by Greg Keyes and Drew Johnson – bridges the gap between the events of Godzilla vs Kong and Godzilla’s narrow victory over King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though Kong doesn’t appear in the story proper, his presence is felt throughout, generating a tense anticipation for their on-screen conflict.

The comic book prequel also establishes that Kong and Godzilla have a pre-existing dynamic, emphasized by what Godzilla refers to Kong as in his internal narration: the Rival. Given how their battle would later play out in the film, this is an especially vital piece of context.

Godzilla Calls Kong ‘The Rival’, Foreshadowing Their Conflict

Godzilla: Dominion – Written By Greg Keyes; Art By Drew Johnson; Color By Allan Passalaqua; Lettering By Jimmy Betancourt & Richard Starkings

By establishing Kong as “the Rival” in Godzilla’s mind, the comic definitively established them as the two supreme Kaijus in this continuity.

Godzilla: Dominion gave fans a bit more insight into Godzilla’s thought process, as well as revealing another interesting ability movie fans didn’t know he possessed. As the comic depicted, Godzilla has the power to tap into the entire world, meaning he feel things happening across the entire planet the same way a person can feel something on their skin. This is how Godzilla knows when there is conflict, or when someone or something is overstepping their boundaries and needs to be put in their place.

More than that, though, Dominion makes it clear that Godzilla can constantly feel Kong’s challenging presence in the world. Every moment Kong continues to exist without recognizing Godzilla’s supremacy is, effectively, akin to an itch Godzilla just can’t scratch. More than just setting the stage for their cinematic showdown – which, as a prequel story, the comic did effectively – Godzilla: Dominion helped to expand the Monsterverse, making its mythology richer and more complex. By establishing Kong as “the Rival” in Godzilla’s mind, the comic definitively established them as the two supreme Kaijus in this continuity.

Godzilla’s and Kong’s species used to live together in the Hollow Earth, where remnants of a great battle between them were discovered in
Godzilla vs Kong
(and where Kong got that sweet Godzilla-killing ax). This is why Godzilla immediately recognized Kong’s presence on Earth as that of his ultimate, instinctual rival, and why it was inevitable that the two would fight. Kong didn’t bow before Godzilla like the other Titans did in
King of the Monsters
, and more than that, Kong is inherently a threat to Godzilla’s kingship. Add that to the fact that Godzilla can feel Kong’s every move with his planet-scoping power, and the ultimate battle between the two was completely unavoidable.

The “Godzilla Vs. Kong” Prequel Comic Gave Fans Godzilla’s POV

The Ultimate Kaiju Became More Relatable

Godzilla: Dominion
is a reminder that Godzilla remains the beating heart of the Monsterverse continuity.

Godzilla has most frequently, and most iconically, been depicted as a gigantic, lumbering presence – one whose relationship with humanity, and the other species of Earth is complex at best, and antagonistic at worst. The King of the Monsters is usually portrayed as intelligent – at times, even hyperintelligent – but there has always been a communication barrier between him and the human characters in Godzilla films. More critically, that has extended to the audience, to whom Godzilla has remained largely a figure of mystery.

Godzilla: Dominion skillfully subverted this expectation, using the comic book medium to offer readers an opportunity to spend time within Godzilla’s mind, as he traversed the planet, fighting other monsters, and seeking a new place to call home. Making Godzilla’s thoughts, feelings, and POV accessible to humanity, while also making him still feel strange and fearsome, was a difficult narrative path to navigate. Dominion did so skillfully, telling a clear, straightforward story while still communicating a sense of Godzilla’s character like few that had come before.

Focusing on Godzilla is also an important decision for the prequel comic. Given that there is more of an inherent connection between human viewers and a giant ape, as opposed to a massive lizard, Kong has always been more relatable to movie-goers, and as a result, has tended to dominate the screen-time in their shared cinematic adventures. Godzilla: Dominion is a reminder that Godzilla remains the beating heart of the Monsterverse continuity, in that he remains its most powerful, and most interesting, character.

“Dominion” Was The Perfect Lead-In To The Titans Cinematic Clash

Rematch Of The Century

As with any great modern multimedia franchise, Universal incitefully used the
Godzilla: Dominion
comic to make its world more immersive.

Godzilla: Dominon also offers interesting insight into how pop culture has evolved over the past sixty-plus years. Take the plot of the original 1962 film King Kong vs Godzilla for example: Kong was taken from his home and brought to Godzilla’s territory in order to fight the kaiju on behalf of humanity, despite the fact that the two monsters had never heard of each other before, and had no reason to fight beyond proving which one was the strongest. There wasn’t much background or motivation for either Kong or Godzilla; then again, there didn’t really need to be.

Two iconic monsters – one more recognizable in Japan at the time, the other an American classic – in a movie together, fighting to see who would win, was all audiences needed at the time. In the decades since, viewers have developed more sophisticated tastes, with an increased desire for lore, and continuity. As a result, in the contemporary MonsterVerse films, Godzilla and Kong have a deep-seated rivalry that stretches back generations for both their species. As with any great modern multimedia franchise, Universal incitefully used the Godzilla: Dominion comic to make its world more immersive.

That’s why Godzilla and Kong fought in 2021’s Godzilla vs Kong, and that’s why Godzilla had his own special name for Kong before the events of that movie even took place: the Rival. Thankfully, by the end of Godzilla vs Kong, the two were able to work out some sort of unspoken agreement that would allow both of them to exist on the same planet at the same time without further conflict. However, that initial conflict was necessary either way, regardless of the outcome, and Godzilla’s name for King Kong explains why.