In May 2017, Universal Pictures releaseda humorously austere cast photofor their Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe that would launch withTom Cruise’sThe Mummyand expand to include luminaries likeJavier Bardemas Frankenstein’s Monster andJohnny Deppas the Invisible Man. Except, of course, it never happened. Universal is still looking to produce a series of films based on their classic monsters, but the massively interconnected shared universe that was planned now only exists in a single Photoshopped picture. The Dark Universe may have been the most notable failure in Hollywood’s attempt to replicate the MCU’s success, but it was far from the only one. The DC Comics Extended Universe has sputtered along from film to film, with a couple of unqualified successes along the way. Sony’s original attempt at their own Spidey-Verse crashed so hard withThe Amazing Spider-Man 2that they came wall-crawling back to Marvel forSpider-Man: Homecoming. Even the LEGO Movie Universe fizzled afterThe LEGO Ninjago MovieandThe LEGO Movie 2: The Second Partboth drastically underperformed.
And yet, against the odds, there is one shared cinematic universe that has found surprising consistency in the wake of Marvel. It wasn’t announced with a fancy cast photo full of movie stars, but instead has lumbered slowly, through smoke and fire, to lift its head and let out a mighty roar on movie screens every few years. Yup, I’m talking about Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s MonsterVerse, which has succeeded where others have failed and might hit new heights later this month with the release of the highly anticipatedGodzilla vs. Kong.
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So how did this happen? How is it that a series about giant monsters pummeling the crap out of each other is still generating excitement four films later while other would-be cinematic universes have fallen by the wayside? Well, for starters, Legendary didn’t put the cart before the horse. Launched in 2014 withGareth Edwards’Godzilla, the MonsterVerse didn’t start as a shared universe at all. Instead, Legendary was merely attempting to do what TriStar andRoland Emmerichhad failed at 16 years prior – produce a big-budget American version of the kaiju sensation that would connect with worldwide audiences without turning off fans of the long-running Japanese series. Upon release, there were no shared-universe declarations or bold press releases featuring photos of cast members signed to multi-picture deals. The film drops hints of a larger world, and no doubt Legendary had hopes for further installments. But ultimately, it was a standalone movie, meant to be a complete story unto itself and not merely a tease for bigger things down the road (which can have the unintended side effect of annoying the audience when you haven’t built up an MCU-sized reservoir of goodwill).
It wasn’t until a full year later that Legendary announced they had acquired the rights to King Kong and were planning to spin it out into a series of shared-universe movies. And though the connections between the various MonsterVerse films (which now also includesKong: Skull IslandandGodzilla: King of the Monsters) have continued to grow, each installment was still largely produced as a standalone film requiring no comprehensive understanding of the series at large to enjoy. That way, you end up with the best of both worlds. Super-fans can track the history of the titan-monitoring organization Monarch across all the movies and realize thatJoe Mortonis playing the same character inKing of the MonstersthatCorey Hawkinsplayed inSkullIsland, while casual viewers just enjoy the monster mayhem in front of them without feeling lost.
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And speaking of monsters, Legendary has wisely never pretended that they’re making anything other than giant creature features. One of the problems with 2017’sTheMummywas it had no idea what it wanted to be. It was based on the Universal horror icon, but it starred Tom Cruise and was marketed as a very specific kind of Cruise-led action movie. It was trying to be all things to all people and ended up being none of them. Legendary, however, has followed the lead of the original and still beloved Toho Godzilla productions by making the monsters the main attraction. This has allowed the studio to eschew hiring giant movie stars who might bend the movies into something that’s a better fit with their brand, like a Cruise or aWill Smith. Instead, they’ve populated the films with mid-tier stars (Samuel L. Jackson), up-and-comers (Brie Larson,Tom Hiddleston,Millie Bobby Brown), and notable character actors (David Strathairn,Sally HawkinsandJohn C. Reilly). This likely allows them to save money in casting that they can then throw at the creature effects and keeps the focus on the monsters themselves, from the advertising on down.
It also seems like these movies may have benefited from offering a shared universe that deals with something other than superheroes, allowing it to avoid giving off a “me too” vibe. While DC and Sony were attempting to copy Marvel with their own stable of spandex-wearing comic book heroes, Legendary has been able to offer something that’s a little different – a little more primal and horror-skewing. The horror genre has its own thriving shared universe withThe Conjuringfranchise, but it’s easy to see how the MonsterVerse could tap into that same market while still positioning itself as a draw to the more traditional action-spectacle crowd. It’s not quite cult and not quite mainstream, but sits comfortably in between.
So now the question becomes: Can Legendary keep it going? Godzilla ’14 and Kong: Skull Island were huge global hits, to the tune of $529 million and $566 million respectively, but the box office forGodzilla: King of the Monstersfell to $386 million. One wonders if it’s because they started to veer just a bit from their own formula, taking Brown (white-hot from her role onStranger Things) and making her the centerpiece of the film’s promotional push. No offense to Brown, but she’s playing the beleaguered teenager in a movie where Godzilla rips one of Ghidorah’s three heads off and the head grows back. Interesting human characters can be a bonus with these types of films, but they should never, ever be the main attraction.
It appears Legendary has learned this lesson. Brown is back for the new movie, as is her on-screen dad,Kyle Chandler, but this time the promotional push has re-centered on the two battling titans at the film’s center. It’s a smart play as Warner Bros. needs a rebound withGodzilla vs. Kong, though that could prove tricky – and particularly hard to judge – considering we’re still in the midst of a pandemic that has movie theaters hurting worldwide. (The film will be released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.) But part of the benefit of making sure these films stand on their own is that each new movie isn’t necessarily dependent on the one in front of it.Godzilla vs. Kong’s trailer was viewed25.6 million timesin its first 24 hours upon release, a new record for Warner Bros. Everyone’sfavorite chonky lizardhas a dedicated fan base, and the memes haven’t slowed a bit! And though there’s continued debate about the overall quality of each individual MonsterVerse film – personally, I’m aSkull Islandguy – the general consensus seems to be that this shared universe was built on good intentions, has its heart in the right place, and, so long as it keeps finding fun ways to pit these beasties against each other, doesn’t necessarily need to stop now. After all, the fight has been raging on in Japan for decades.
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