It has been three years since Kong: Skull Island was released and paved the road for the two largest icons, Godzilla and Kong, to collide on November 20th. Scattered through out the movie, Godzilla has been hinted at a few times until the post credit scene confirming that Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are in the same world as Kong. However, there is one incident that many fans assume that Godzilla was blamed for, which is the U.S.S. Lawton Incident.
The U.S.S. Lawton Incident was a case that was quietly swept under the rug. The U.S.S. Lawton was a battle ship that was attacked by what was reported to be an enormous creature. The only survivor that witnessed the incident was Bill Randa (played by John Goodman). Randa would be found and questioned about the incident, however his testimony would be brushed off and immediately concluded the incident to be an attack from an enemy ship. After the incident, sightings of Godzilla would start to surface after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Then in 1946, President Truman learns that these sightings of giant monsters could not be ignored and organizes a secret organization called MONARCH that would secretly study and kill the creatures. As the first witness of a monster attack, Bill Randa would be assigned to MONARCH as a researcher to help locate these Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms.
It is easy to believe that Godzilla is the suspect to the U.S.S. Lawton Incident. However, Godzilla has shown that in both Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters he has no interest in attacking humans. In fact, one of the biggest flaws with Godzilla (2014) is that the movie should have been about Godzilla, yet the movie concentrated more on Godzilla's opponents, the MUTOs. There was very little info about Godzilla in the 2014 movie other than he was there to bring balance, which says very little. So there were still a lot of unknowns about Godzilla as a character when Kong: Skull Island was released implying that it was Godzilla that sank the U.S.S. Lawton.
There is even more evidence against the idea that Godzilla is the likely suspect for the incident if you read the graphic novel Godzilla Awakening. In the book, Godzilla is shown to have woken up from his slumber after the bombing on Hiroshima in 1945. Ever since Godzilla awakened, he has been tracking down and hunting swarms of Shinomura up until 1954 when both monsters were baited to the Bikini Atoll so they could be killed by the hydrogen bomb. If Godzilla has been slumbering until 1945, then it had to have been something else that attacked the battleship in 1943.
The last piece of evidence to prove Godzilla's innocence is Bill Randa's vague testimony of the 1943 incident in Kong: Skull Island. After Randa and his team were attacked by Kong after their arrival on Skull Island, Randa was questioned by Colonel Packard (played by Samuel L. Jackson). Packard asks Randa who he is and Randa responds, "You heard of the U.S.S. Lawton? Neither did the public. Out of a thousand young men on that ship I was the only survivor. They told my family that she was sunk in battle, but I know what I saw. It had no conscience. No reasoning. Just destroy. I spent the last 30 years trying to prove the truth of what I learned that day." Randa doesn't give any physical description of the monster that attacked the U.S.S. Lawton, only his perception of how he saw the monster. We know that Godzilla in this series does not display that kind of aggression towards people. The only time we see Godzilla attack people is when he first appears at Castle Bravo in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. During this scene, we hear that Godzilla had destroyed MONARCH's observation drones and was circling around the base to get the attention of the humans. Godzilla's display of a light show as his dorsal fins glowed were even described as "an intimidation display like a gorilla pounding its chest". This was the only time we ever see Godzilla act aggressive towards humans, but it was his way at attempting to warn the humans that something was going on in Antarctica. Most of the time, when Godzilla does attack it is done indirectly. Godzilla is always shown fighting another monster when people get hurt.
Now, many fans are speculating that Godzilla could turn against humanity in Godzilla vs Kong. This is all based on the last two lines in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. We see Mark and Madison safe in a transport chopper with Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Rick Stanton watching Godzilla consume King Ghidorah. Then, we hear Dr. Stanton comment, "Thank goodness he is on our side." and Dr. Chen responds, "For now". Because of those two words the movie could be giving another false hint that Godzilla is gonna turn into a bad guy. If we do see Godzilla attacking people directly in Godzilla vs Kong then an argument can be made for his attack on the U.S.S. Lawton. For now, Godzilla is innocent on the U.S.S. Lawton Incident.
What are your thoughts on the U.S.S. Lawton Incident? Do you think Godzilla is responsible for the attack or do you think he was framed? Leave a comment on your thoughts on this topic in the comments section. Make sure to follow me on my Facebook, Twitter, and Minds pages to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.