The Godzilla and King Kong mythology goes back decades, making their first appearances in King Kong in 1933 and Godzilla in 1953, respectively. Over that time, these monstrous creatures of the deep have been called different things, like MUTOs or Kaiju. However, in the MonsterVerse, they’re called Titans. Which begs the question, why the name change?
Fans of the Godzilla and King Kong have frequently wondered and asked the studio behind the latest movies, like Godzilla, Godzilla: King of Monsters, and Kong: Skull Island, why they call them Titans rather than what they were known for in the past. Well, they’ve now answered that question on social media. Here’s what they had to say:
People have asked why we refer to the creatures as Titans instead of MUTOs or Kaiju. 1) MUTO stands for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, so once a creature is identified & classified, it’s technically no longer a MUTO so Monarch had to come up with a new term: Titan.
I think that’s a pretty good answer why they don’t call them MUTOs, but they don’t really address why they don’t call them Kajiu. If I were a betting man, I might place my money on it having something to do with Pacific Rim calling their monsters Kaiju. The studios answer doesn’t stop there. They shed a little more light on why they call their monsters Titans.
2) Besides sounding cool, the definition of a Titan matches the history of the creatures as the First Gods and ties back to their ancient mythic roots.
It’s true, it does sound pretty cool to call them Titans. Plus, you have to admit both Godzilla and King Kong are practically all-powerful deities in the movies. I mean, Godzilla can shoot devastating blue fire out of his mouth. You don’t get much more Titan than that.
The MonsterVerse is a cinematic universe first starting with the release of Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, in 2014. Additional films in the universe include Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of Monsters which will lead to the crossover film, Godzilla vs. Kong. That epic film will see the two Titans meet in one glorious and destructive bout for the ages.
Adam Wingard, who directed The Guest and You’re Next, has been tapped to direct Godzilla vs. Kong and is currently working on post-production for the movie. It’s been reported Godzilla vs. Kong will have a runtime of one hour and 45 minutes, which considering this is a crossover movie, makes it feel sort.
Short runtime or no I’m pretty excited, to say the least, to see these two Titans go head-to-head and unleash the fight they were always meant to have on the modern silver screen. And it sounds like there’s good reason to be excited. One Godzilla vs. Kong actress thinks fans will be happy, too.
