After traveling back to 1973 to tell King Kong’s take in Kong: Skull Island, the MonsterVerse is jumping back to the present day this summer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Due to the events of 2014’s Godzilla, the public now aware of the Titans’ existence, and King of the Monsters will see more of these giant beasts awakening to wreak havoc on the world. But monsters are just one half of the equation in these kaiju movies. There are also the human players directly involved, and according to King of the Monsters star Vera Farmiga, a big way this sequel distinguishes itself from its predecessors is that it places a mother/daughter relationship front and center. In Farmiga’s words:
The previous Godzilla really focused on the relationship of a father and a son. At the heart of our film is this relationship between a mother and daughter.
Obviously the main draw of these types of movies is to see monsters battling one another, but the human stories also help keep the narrative grounded, so to speak. In Godzilla, the relationship between Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ford Brody and his father Joe, played by Bryan Cranston, was explored during the first half of the movie, and for the sequel, we get to see Vera Farmiga’s Dr. Emma Russell interacting with her daughter Madison, played by Millie Bobby Brown. Emma’s ex-husband and Madison’s father, Kyle Chandler’s Dr. Mark Russell, will also appear in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but as Farmiga told Syfy Wire, it’s Emma and Madison’s relationship will get a lot of attention.
Godzilla didn’t have much time to focus on Ford and Joe Brody’s dynamic since Joe died after the awakening of the first MUTO, but it doesn’t look like Godzilla: King of the Monsters will repeat that formula. The sequel sees Emma and Madison Russell being kidnapped by a mysterious organization, presumably due to Emma’s work on communicating with and possibly controlling the Titans. Strangely, though, the first King of the Monsters trailer framed Emma as a seemingly willing participant in whatever this group has planned, and both Madison and Mark expressing disappointment and disgust at her actions, although admittedly, it could just look that way thanks to how the preview was edited.
Either way, Emma and Madison will be among the main human characters getting the spotlight in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and since the previous MonsterVerse movies, let alone most monsters movies, don’t highlighted mother/daughter relationships, this makes for a nice change of pace. That said, while both Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler are confirmed to appear in Godzilla vs. Kong, Vera Farmiga has not been announced as part of that cast. It’s possible that Farmiga’s involvement either hasn’t been cemented or she’ll have a smaller role in the fourth MonsterVerse entry, but perhaps, just like how Ford Brody lost his father, Madison will lose her mother during King of the Monsters. That’d be tragic, but in the MonsterVerse, tragedy comes in large supply.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters rampages into theaters on May 31, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. Don’t forget to look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out this year.
