The Hollow Earth and the ancient history of the Titans are ultimately the concepts that distinguish theMonsterversefrom all other versions of Godzilla’s story. Over the years, there has been amultitude of timelines associated with Godzilla, but only in one -Godzilla and Kong’s Monsterverse- is he recognized as an ancient monster linked to an underground world. But had a particular Godzilla project from 1955 reached fruition, these ideas wouldn’t be unique to the Monsterverse.
Over the years, Toho had along list of plans for Godzilla’s moviesthat never actually moved forward.Godzilla vs. Bagan, Godzilla and King Kong’s 1990s crossover, andThe Return of King Ghidorah!are among the exciting films abandoned by Toho. Another isBride of Godzilla?While its title may be indicative of some potentially absurd additions to Godzilla’s universe, it was actually quite innovative, in that it would have introduced ideas that would later be crucial to the foundation of Legandary’s $2.5 billion monster movie franchise.
How Toho’s Bride Of Godzilla Movie Would Have Redefined The Kaiju In Godzilla’s World
The Most Important Part Of The Monsterverse Was Almost Added To Godzilla’s Francise In The 1950s
In 1955, Toho released its first sequel to the original Godzilla movie,Godzilla Raids Again.As the first movie in the franchise to feature a monster fight,Godzilla Raids Againbrought Anguirus into the kaiju’s world. Within the same year,the studio developed a script for aGodzilla Raids Againsequel, titledBride of Godzilla?According toThe Big Book of Giant Japanese Monsters: The Lost Filmsby John LeMay,Bride of Godzillawould have picked up whereGodzilla Raids Againleftoff by having the scientists delve into the origins of Godzilla and Anguirus. Curiously, the real-life Hollow Earth theory would have been the answer to their questions.
A scientist named Dr. Zenji Shida would have laid out an explanation for Godzilla and Anguirus' existence; as he explained,Godzilla and Anguirus originated from a “hollow earth” cavern deep underground, which also housed prehistoric creatures thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago. The discovery of one of these caverns - plus the emergence of a dinosaur - later on in the film would prove Dr. Shida’s speculations to be accurate. All of this would be weaved into a story focused on Godzilla’s battle with a giant-sized, mechanical woman known as the Bride of Godzilla.
Why Bride of Godzilla? Never Happened
As proven by the success of the Monsterverse, there’s all sorts of storytelling potential that comes with the notion of making the Hollow Earth concept the center of Godzilla’s backstory. Clearly, though, the filmmakers behind the Monsterverse were not the first to ponder taking this route with Godzilla. Of course, that raises questions as to why Toho didn’t do anything with the idea. Why the studio never explored it is unclear, but its reasons for not doing it as early as 1955 are much less mysterious. From the looks of things,Bride of Godzilla?was too ambitious for the budget Toho would have allotted.
10 Silliest Storylines From The Godzilla Franchise
While more recent Godzilla movies have revisited the terrifying power of the radioactive lizard, his history is still filled with absurd storylines.
LeMay argued in his book thatBride of Godzilla?would have been very expensive to make, and it’s not hard to see why. The scenes of the hollow earth cave would have been a heavy expense, not to mention the cost of creating the Bride of Godzilla suit, the additional dinosaurs in the script, and all the monster action that would have come from having Anguirus back as well. The number of creatures involved would have madeBride of Godzilla?a costly venture.
What’s more, it would seem that at that time,Toho wasn’t fully invested in making another Godzilla film immediately afterGodzilla Raids Again. After all, it didn’t replaceBride of Godzilla?with another Godzilla project. Instead, it pivoted toRodanand didn’t make another Godzilla movie untilKing Kong vs. Godzillain 1962. And when it did revitalize the franchise, it did it without the concepts that fueled itsBride of Godzilla?script.
How Godzilla’s Bride Of Godzilla? Origin Differs From The Monsterverse
The lore changes thatBride of Godzilla?would have contributed to the franchise closely align with the Monsterverse, but some important differences remain, largely due to what came before. SinceBride of Godzilla?was supposed to be in canon with the last two movies, it stands to reason that it wouldn’t have retconned Godzilla’s connections to the atomic bomb. In the Monsterverse,Godzilla was simply awakened in modern times by nuclear testing, whereas Toho’s Godzilla received his signature appearance and powers from the blast.
Both definitions of Godzilla’s origin would have been true inBride of Godzilla?In this iteration, that would be plausible, considering thatGodzilla was already understood to be a prehistoric creature prior to his exposure to nuclear radiation. What that means is thatBride of Godzilla?‘sworld was likely a place populated by dinosaurs, but not necessarily kaiju. It can be presumed that Godzilla’s nuclear transformation happened after he left the underground caverns.
How Bride Of Godzilla? Would Have Changed The Godzilla Franchise
Assuming thatBride of Godzilla?wouldn’t been a one-and-done installment, it’s likely that it would have served as a massive building block for the franchise to work with. Similar tohow the Monsterverse has utilized the Hollow Earth, Toho’s movies could have used it as the backbone for so many of its adventures. In the Showa era, several of its creatures didn’t have fully developed backstories, but via the introduction of an underground world, Toho would have had a working explanation for nearly every monster’s presence in its world. Were that the case, this place could have been a recurring element in the franchise.
What’s more, it could have used this addition to the franchise to better explain other corners of its universe and to bridge them all together. One example of this is Seatopia. The home of Megalon,Seatopia was introduced inGodzilla vs. Megalonas a subterranean city, which was the closest the franchise came to a proper underground world populated by monsters. IfBride of Godzilla?had happened, Seatopia would have fit seamlessly into Toho’s Godzilla lore. It could have been encountered on an adventure by its human characters, who could share underground adventures much like the ones in theMonsterverse.
Monsterverse
The Monsterverse is a giant kaiju franchise that began in 2014 with Legendary’s Godzilla starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, and Elizabeth Olsen. The film was followed up by Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
