There are some pretty major movie franchises out there that have been around for decades but none are older, or have as many entries as the Godzilla movies. The massive creature has been around since 1954 and has fought every imaginable beast and done just about everything you could conceive. Any yet, Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty says that his film actually included a moment never before seen in the franchise.
You'd think for a film series that once included Godzilla fighting a giant robot version of himself, there would be nothing we hadn't seen before but, while in control of the official (western) Godzilla Twitter account during a quarantine watch party, director Mike Dougherty said that until Godzilla: King of the Monsters we had never seen the creature use his bioluminescence as a means of communication.
Godzilla has had a few different origins in his history, but after being a creature born of the atomic age, he eventually became recognized as one of the old gods; part of a race of massive beasts who had lived longer than human life itself. That's the origin used by Godzilla: King of the Monsters as well and with that idea, it makes sense that while Godzilla is certainly quite different than most animal life on earth, he would also have a lot in common with other creatures.
As such, the idea of using natural illumination as a mating display or another form of communication makes perfect sense. It makes so much sense it's hard to believe something so simple had never been done before.
Of course, if Godzilla can use this ability as a mating display then, as many on Twitter point out, does that mean there could be another creature out there?
This was just one of the interesting pieces of information dropped by Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty last night. He hosted a watch party of his movie on Twitter where everybody started watching their own copy of the movie at the same time and then shared the experience on social media. It's become a common way to enjoy film in the age of quarantine.
With Mike Dougherty noticing one thing Godzilla had never done before, one wonders what other things we might see Godzilla do for the first time. Godzilla vs. Kong is the forthcoming entry in the franchise, so we might get to see even more that we've never seen before when that one arrives, which is currently November of this year.
It's nice that even after so many decades of Godzilla movies new filmmakers can still come along and add something new. It's part of the reason that Godzilla as a character has remained so compelling for so long, even though he's never uttered a word.
