1. An already existing Godzilla villain to fight
MUTO were good villains and they were the perfect vehicle to kick start this new franchise. It was nice to see a new monster and it was good for Edwards not to dive into the already existing back catalogue. However, he (and she) have had some flak from the hardcore fan community for being poorly designed creatures and they were criticised for being simply 21st Century versions of Hedorah, a character that is much maligned by the masses and Toho themselves (the character was banned from being used in movies until his cameo in 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars). They may have been new, but there wasn’t much “new” about them.
The sequel would be a good time to bring back a classic villain.
There is a rich history of bad guys to pick from Godzilla’s 60-year run and many of them would work for Legendary Picture’s “real world” setting. This of course cuts out the likes of King Ghidorah and Gigan as they’re aliens, but the likes of Mothra, Rodan and even lesser known bad guys like Ebirah can be used in this Universe they’ve created.
Of course, there is nothing stopping them doing alien creatures…
However, the best villain in terms of storytelling would be the technical titan terror: Mechagodzilla. Taking a leaf from the fan’s proposed plot for the Man of Steel sequel, have a powerful billionaire stand up and complain about Godzilla being seen as a “saviour” because he levelled half of San Francisco and then build a robot version of Godzilla to fight against him when he next shows up on our shores. It practically writes itself.
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So, there you have it. What would you like to see in the Godzilla sequel?
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published May 20, 2014. Updated November 29, 2022.
