The events of Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters paved the way for the MonsterVerse’s first crossover event: Godzilla vs. Kong, which marked the first time these two title monsters crossed paths in a Hollywood production. While Godzilla and Kong started off as enemies, they eventually came together against a shared adversary: Mechagodzilla, which had been intended as Apex’s tool to wipe out the Titans, but was corrupted by the consciousness of Ghidorah. Upon defeating this robotic menace, Godzilla returned to Earth’s waters and Kong was moved to Hollow Earth.
Well, two colossal forces of nature like these can stay separated for only so long, because we now have what was originally just known as Godzilla vs. Kong 2, but was officially titled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Per the official synopsis, along with Godzilla and Kong being pitted against “against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world” that challenges both their existence and our own, the sequel will “delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond,” as well as pull back the curtain on the “mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.” The first trailer for The New Empire dropped on December 3, 2023.
As with the other MonsterVerse movies, obviously Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s main draw is once again be giant monsters fighting each other, but humanity always factors into these stories somehow. As such, we should go over who will be comprising The New Empire’s cast, starting with its new lead character.
Dan Stevens
Adam Wingard is sitting back in the director’s chair for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire after helming its predecessor, and this time, he’s brought in an actor from one of his non-MonsterVerse movies, The Guest. Dan Stevens starred in that 2014 feature as a murderous U.S. soldier named David, and now he’s taken part in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as Trapper, who, as Stevens told Total Film, is the man you call when you have a sick Titan. Many of you might know Stevens better for playing Beast in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey or David Haller in Legion.
Brian Tyree Henry
Our first returning MonsterVerse human character in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes, who, like the other announced familiar faces so far, was introduced in Godzilla vs. Kong. An employee at Apex Cybernetics and host of a conspiracy podcast centered on the Titans, Bernie teamed with Madison Russell and Josh Valentine to figure out what the corporation was up to and how this was affecting Godzilla’s behavior. Bernie is recruited by the next person on this list to help investigate a mysterious signal coming from Hollow Earth.
Rebecca Hall
While the Monarch organization as a whole didn’t get a ton of time to shine in Godzilla vs. Kong, one of its operatives was key to the plot. Rebecca Hall appeared as Dr. Ilene Andrews, the anthropologist linguist who studied Kong on Skull Island, and the adoptive mother of Jia, the island’s last Iwi native. Ilene accompanied the team that was transferring Kong to Hollow Earth and managed to make it out of that region alive with Jia and Dr. Nathan Lind in time to witness Kong’s battle with Godzilla in Hong Kong. Ilene is still working for Monarch during Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and she ventures even deeper into Hollow Earth to learn about the aforementioned signal.
Kaylee Hottle
Deaf actress Kaylee Hottle made her film debut in Godzilla vs. Kong as Jia Andrews, who also couldn’t hear and communicated in America Sign Language. With Kong also knowing ASL, as well as having protected the young girl from being killed by Skullcrawlers like her biological parents, the two formed a special bond. It’s unclear how much time will have passed between Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but Jia is still by Ilene’s side and watching over Kong at the Hollow Earth outpost station. She's on hand to witness things like Mini-Kong (whose name is actually Suko), but along the way, Jia learns about a deeper connection she has to the Titans.
Fala Chen
Fala Chen has been acting in Hong Kong movies and TV shows for over a decade and a half, but she made a splash in the United States on two fronts during 2021 and 2022. First, she appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Ying-Li, the wife of Wenwu and mother of Shang-Chi and Xialing, as well as the Dweller-in-Darkness masquerading as Ying-Li. Then she recurred in HBO’s Irma Vep miniseries as Cynthia Keng. Now she's added another Hollywood movie to her resume with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, where she plays the Iwi Queen. That's right, to Jia's delight, it turns out there is a group of Iwi still alive and living deep within Hollow Earth.
Alex Ferns
Many United Kingdom TV viewers likely remember Alex Ferns for his run as Trevor Morgan in the soap opera EastEnders, and over a decade later, he recurred as Rick Harper in the Scottish drama River City. For those of you stateside, not to worry, as you’ve likely seen him in something recently. For example, Ferns appeared in The Batman as Commissioner Pete Savage, one of The Riddler’s victims. 2022 also saw the actor recurring in Andor as Sergeant Linus Musk, the Pre-Mor officer who followed the orders of Kyle Soller’s Syril Kari without question. Ferns plays a Monarch operative named Mikael who initially leads the expedition into Hollow Earth, but that, ah, doesn't last long, if you catch my drift.
Rachel House
If you’re a fan of Taika Waititi’s work, then you’re quite familiar with Rachel House. The actress starred in the filmmaker’s movies Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok, appeared in a deleted Jojo Rabbit scene, and Next Goal Wins. You may also recognize House as the voice of Gramma Tala in Moana and Terry in Soul, and she also vocally reprised her MCU character Topaz in an episode of What If… ?. On the live-action front, she also played Mao in Netflix’s short-lived Cowboy Bebop series. She appears as Monarch director Hampton in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now playing in theaters. Keep your eyes peeled on CinemaBlend for more news on upcoming MonsterVerse projects, including Netflix’s anime-style series Skull Island and Apple TV+’s live-action series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Stream the released MonsterVerse movies with your Max subscription.
