For quite some time, fans have been speculating which direction the Monsterverse series could take next if Legendary decides to continue. What places can this universe explore. Currently, there is a Skull Island anime in the works for Netflix. In the art book, Godzilla vs Kong: The Art of the Ultimate Battle Royale, the last page gave slight details on new possible ideas to explore should the series continue.
The first place to explore is the Hollow Earth. In Godzilla vs Kong, we got to see only a small portion of this new terrain that Kong now rules. We were introduced to monsters such as Warbat (aka Nozuki), the rock crabs, Hell Hawks, and the Hollow Earth lizard (aka Doug). Adam Wingard explains, "In my view, the films have been increasingly focused on letting the monsters be the stars. At this point, why keep them mysterious? I think people want them front and center, and we could really lean into that."
The art book continues, "The saga has room for many more opponents who would menace the King of the Monsters now that Hollow Earth is open for business and humans have proven themselves capable of building Titan-level machines. On the other hand, the Monsterverse has demonstrated that some of its best moments do not rely solely on spectacle."
Since the Monsterverse has gone full blown sci-fi, Legendary can go wild with the Hollow Earth. They can even explore more about the titan war that has been hinted at in King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs Kong. With the Hollow Earth being as big as it is we may not have even seen at least 1% of this new world. The idea that there are monsters in the Hollow Earth other than Kong that can rival Godzilla is something worth exploring. In the art book, there is the piece of concept art that shows a cave painting that illustrates Godzilla's and Kong's ancestors fighting another titan that looks like a Godzilla with wings. If you look closely to the design details on the Hell Hawk and Doug, they both have dorsal plates similar to Godzilla. In the official novelization of Godzilla vs Kong, Mia explains a story about a creature called "Zo-Zla-halawa", which she uses to identify Godzilla. I can see where a movie explores more of the "flying Godzilla" in the cave painting and was later identified as the Zo-Zla-halawa that the Iwi tribe feared for many generations. What would be really interesting too is if the Zo-Zla-halawa looked so similar to Godzilla that it turns out this monster was the one that started the war between Godzilla and Kong.
What is also important to note is when he also expresses how humanity is capable of building giant robots in this universe now. We have already seen what MechaGodzilla can do in this universe, but it could hint at other possible mechanical titans that could appear. Mechani-Kong, Mecha King Ghidorah, MOGURA, and yes, even Jet Jaguar, could all be contenders. On the other hand, we could also get mechanized versions of other monsters or an original giant robot.
In addition to the Hollow Earth, the art book hints at the possibility of space travel or other monsters originating from space. Legendary's Jay Ashenfelter has this to say, "We've had discussions about going even bigger, but could there be a version where the story is less world-traversing and more intimate? On the other hand of the scale, we've had conversations about how, in King of the Monsters, we found out that King Ghidorah was from outer space. That's a ticking time bomb sitting in the franchise that's just begging for exploration."
What this means is that any ideas with outer space and space monsters is on the table. Gigan, Orga, Space Godzilla, Monster X, and other iterations of King Ghidorah have all become possibilities or at least are being talked about. Another possibility is that we get a brand new space monster since borrowing the rights for monsters from Toho is very expensive.
If I had it my way, I would love to see Space Godzilla return in some way. I know that there are some fans that would love to see Space Godzilla return some day too. Honestly speaking, Space Godzilla would be very hard to make it look believable enough to pull off. If I had it my way, this is how I would introduce Space Godzilla in the Monsterverse. Instead of having it come from outer space, it comes from the void of an unstable vortex. The titan was once a regular Godzilla that entered this vortex or was defeated by a Kong ancestor, but got stuck while traveling to the surface from the Hollow Earth. Due to the harsh cold conditions inside the void, this trapped Godzilla was cocooned with ice and mutated over eons. This new version of Space Godzilla would not have psychic powers and flight, but it would have the ability to grow icicles with its radiation much like how other titans grow forests and vegetation. On top of that, it would have a similar ability to create world ending storms like King Ghidorah, but instead would create blizzards rather than category 6 hurricanes.
Again, that is just what I would do if I had it my way. Sure, the monster wouldn't really come from outer space or even a black hole, but it would still originate from a void or space similar to outer space. However, anything is possible. For all we know, we could get alien invaders that sent Gigan to Earth after hearing King Ghidorah fell to Godzilla. Or Atlantians send Megalon to the Hollow Earth in an attempt to harvest Earth's energy and try to kill Kong in the process.
Getting back to the main topic, the best news is probably in this next sentence. "Godzilla and Kong aren't going anywhere, and Hollow Earth is now open for business. A whole new continent with hundreds of monsters is waiting to be discovered and not every story needs to be told as a feature film." I am glad that there are more plans being explored for both Godzilla and Kong, but it also sounds like they want to take a different direction when it states that not every story needs to be a feature film. Will there be movies? It is possible. Again, there is the Skull Island anime in the works for Netflix. Also, Legendary has their own line of graphic novels and comics. What the book is saying is that there is so much potential for stories to be told and explored, but not all of them can be movies. Maybe the Monsterverse could be turning into a series of shows and comics rather than a series of films. What I would love to see is a full fledge video game based in the Monsterverse.
This will make me sound like a debby downer, but the last possibility is that we don't see any of these ideas utilized at all. Despite the fact that there is so much talk about these ideas brewing from Legendary on how to continue the Monsterverse, the anime might also be the last project Legendary works on before they decide to end it. Until there is any confirmation of a continuation outside the Skull Island anime, there is still no certainty the Monsterverse will continue yet. For now, there are talks and ideas on how to continue the Monsterverse and all of these ideas the book describes are only ideas for the time being.
How would you like to see the Monsterverse continue? Would you like to see more of the Hollow Earth or would you like to see outer space explored? What kind of monsters do you want to see discovered in space or in the Hollow Earth? Leave a comment in the comments section of your ideas on what you would like to see the Monsterverse explore. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Minds, MeWe, and Gab to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.