At the risk of boiling down Godzilla Minus Zero to giant monster fights (which director Takashi Yamazaki would prefer we didn’t do), giant monster fights are pretty cool. And while there is no guarantee that Yamazaki and crew will make another Godzilla movie, the team did recently discuss which giant monsters they would love to see in a hypothetical third movie. Here were their responses:
Takayuki Ueki (Visual Effects Supervisor) – Biollante
Tatsuji Nojima (VFX Artist) – Rodan
Kazuaki Kishida (Producer) – Destoroyah
Now, Kishida was quick to remind everyone that there is currently no third Godzilla movie in production and there have been no formal discussions about any of the creative plans for that hypothetical movie. BUT, for the purposes of fun, let’s look at each of those three kaiju in case you don’t happen to be familiar with their work.
Rodan is probably the biggest name in that group. Featured in six previous films, the flying creature that is modeled after a Pteranodon is widely considered to be one of the great monsters in Japanese cinema. Rodan was conceived as a kind of commentary on the growing nuclear threat of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, Rodan has historically functioned as an ally/rival to Godzilla, so featuring the creature in a future movie wouldn’t only offer some name value but would potentially open the door to some more complex kaiju relationship dynamics (it’s always complicated with kaiju, isn’t it?).
Biollante is an interesting pull, but hardly a surprise when you think of how much fun the VFX team could have bringing that creature to life. The plant-hybrid monster hasn’t been featured in nearly as many films as some of the more iconic kaiju, but one look at the creature’s design is all you really need to know how incredible it would be to see this thing brought to life by an exceptional modern VFX team. Of the three options above, that would also be my personal favorite.
That said, Destoroyah is a fascinating option. A latecomer to the game (it didn’t debut until 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah), Destoroyah is a lot. One of the most powerful monsters in the kaiju canon, Destoroyah is kind of an amalgamation of various monsters throughout the years. In the best way possible, I’ve always seen it as what might happen if you asked a group of kids to come up with Godzilla’s ultimate opponent. It’s silly, but also… kind of great? Destoroyah has only been featured in one major film, which would certainly make it one of the more obscure possible pulls for a major modern Godzilla movie. But there is something appealing about an “every flavor from the soda fountain” ultimate monster to help round out this series.
Yamazaki didn’t weigh in on this particular discussion, but he has previously stated that King Ghidorah is his favorite of the kaiju. He’s also said that Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (great name) is one of his favorite Godzilla movies, so take that for what it’s worth if you’re looking for hints of possible future angles.
