While we knew some things about Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire prior to December 2023, it was during this month that we got a much better idea of what to expect from the 2024 movie release. The New Empire trailer spotlighted things like the villain known as the Skar King and the adorable Mini-Kong, but perhaps one of the more mysterious aspects of the preview was the fact that Godzilla is now unleashing pink-colored energy rather than blue. While it still hasn’t officially revealed why this is happening, there’s a cool fan theory out there concerning this color change.
It hasn’t been clarified yet how long Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire takes place after 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong (which, like the other released MonsterVerse movies, can be streamed with a Max subscription), but evidently something major happened to Godzilla between the two movies since for him to be rocking the pink. @genetic_monster speculates that this is because the reptilian Titan is now channeling a different kind of energy on the electromagnetic spectrum, as you’ll see below:
Something really cool i’d like to point out about Godzilla’s ‘Evolved Form’ in #GodzillaxKongTheNewEmpire .. The pink could be more than just aesthetic. There is a good chance that due to his mutation something else at play..Our big boy’s gone GAMMA! pic.twitter.com/S5p0FDLddXDecember 5, 2023
Ever since this massive monster was introduced to the world in 1954, the Godzilla movies have chiefly depicted him as harnessing nuclear energy. After all, Godzilla was originally created as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, with his film debut coming nine years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But as is noted in the tweet above, pink represents gamma radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum, and it’s also the highest-level of energy on there. Should this theory prove correct, then that means the MonsterVerse’s Godzilla is more powerful than ever, and potentially even the mightiest version of the monster yet.
Assuming Godzilla is indeed channeling gamma radiation in The New Empire, why is he doing it now of all times? Like most of the Titans, he’s walked the Earth for thousands of years, and presumably in all that time he’s been channeling nuclear radiation, which, as shared in the Godzilla vs. Kong novelization, originates from that strange energy source within Hollo Earth. Did that same source imbue Godzilla with gamma radiation, or did that happen some other way? Furthermore, will channeling gamma radiation result in Godzilla developing some kind of weakness that he didn’t have before, or is this a no-strings attached upgrade?
In any case, now I’m looking forward to seeing Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, as I want to know if this theory is correct or if there’s a different reason for him going pink. In addition to the aforementioned Titans and various other monsters causing a ruckus in this movie, the human lineup of The New Empire’s cast includes Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hotel reprising their Godzillas vs. Kong roles, as well as newcomers like Dan Stevens, Fala Chen, Alex Ferns and Rachel House. Behind the scenes, Adam Winged is sitting back in the director’s chair, and Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater wrote the script.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens in theaters on April 12, 2024. If you’re looking for a new MonsterVerse story to watch now, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is available for Apple TV+ subscribers to stream, and it features Godzilla between the events of the same-named 2014 movie that launched the MonsterVerse and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.