Godzilla Wants You To Choose His Next Challenger, Here’s Our Pick
The official Godzilla Twitter account wants fans to decide who the prehistoric reptilian monster is up against next, and we're putting in our vote as Godzilla Vs. Predator.
Godzilla has had a laundry list of enemies in his rogue’s gallery, dating back to epic monster fights in some of the creature’s earliest appearances on film. In the past several decades, we’ve seen Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Gigan, Mothra, and even King Kong himself, almost always resulting in devastating effects on mankind’s largest metropolitan cities. Now, with the Godzilla official Twitter account posing the question of which fictional character will be the next to enter into the vast chasm of Godzilla foes, we’re throwing our pick into the ring, with none other than the Yautja hunters from the Predator film series.
Consider the following: Godzilla Vs. Predator, a film in which the intergalactic Predator arrives on the planet Earth with the intent to take down the planet’s mightiest apex predator, only for a seismic event to bring the king of the monsters to the surface just as the Predator prepares to depart with the spine of a slain warlord. This would obviously prompt the Predator to rethink its approach, as we’ve never seen any of the hunter species take on a creature of Godzilla’s massive size. The battle would take the Predator to locations never before seen on film, such as the depths of the oceans or nuclear sites amidst a meltdown.
The film would have incredible implications for any screenwriter or director bold enough to take on the task, begging questions such as, what technology could the Predator employ when faced with such a significant disadvantage? What kind of effect, if any, would nuclear materials have on the Yautja species? And where does Godzilla Vs. Predator fit into the mixed canon of the Predator film franchise, if at all?
The predator series, much like the Godzilla series, has seen the alien race versus a number of foes, including militant commandos, grizzled police, and most recently, Comanche Native Americans and wild grizzly bears in 2022’s Prey. Since the first installment in 1987, the Predator has been seen slaughtering its way across the depths of the jungle, the streets of Los Angeles, and even a distant planet far outside the reaches of modern space travel. Taking on a foe such as Godzilla could serve as an incredible display of camp, like Shane Black’s 2018 take on the species in The Predator, or a gritty, all-out brawl such as 2021’s Godzilla Vs. Kong, depending on the vision of the filmmakers.
Any way you slice it, a film in which Godzilla faces off against the greatest known hunters of the universe would be a mega-hit, with Godzilla’s most recent box office outing, Godzilla Vs. Kong, taking in over $400 million at the box office, and the most recent Predator film grossing more money than any previous installment in the film series’ history. A trailer shot in which Godzilla loads up on nuclear energy in order to blast a gamma radiation ray at a dodging Yautja would almost certainly be enough footage to spark a full-on box office blowout. The film would also be highly unique considering that both famed franchises have seen the title characters facing off against a revolving door of enemies, but never an enemy with quite the size differential as this.
In my day, I may be regarded as a babbling madman, mentally constructing a tribute to insanity which spits in the very face of cinema itself. But mark my words, Godzilla Vs. Predator would serve as the greatest cinematic masterpiece to ever bless a theater near you. If only the studio could be so bold as to green-light such a project.
