Why Anguirus Wasn't In Godzilla vs Kong (& How He Could've Been Used)

Godzilla vs. Kong could have delivered on Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Anguirus tease, but the movie’s director, Adam Wingard, decided against introducing him. Instead, Mechagodzilla served as Godzilla vs. Kong’s only addition to the MonsterVerse’s stable of Toho monsters. All the other new creatures featured in the film were original to the movie.

Anguirus, an ankylosaurus-like kaiju and a longtime ally of Godzilla from the Showa era, has long been a fan-favorite choice to join the MonsterVerse. Talk about the creature appearing heated up shortly after Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ release, when director Mike Dougherty tweeted about a skeleton “that may or may not belong to Anguirus” in the underwater city. Upon closer inspection of the skeleton, the link to Anguirus was made even more blatantly obvious as it is shown to share some of the physical characteristics that tie it directly to the kaiju, rather than any real-life ankylosaurus dinosaur species. So while Dougherty has never officially confirmed the Easter egg, there really is no mistaking that there was an Anguirus skeleton in Godzilla’s home.

Related: Why Godzilla Can Beat Mechagodzilla Alone (Despite GvK's Ending)

Godzilla vs. Kong had an opportunity to explore this further when it dove deeper into the Hollow Earth, but Anguirus was never alluded to or shown. According to Wingard, he “considered” using Toho monsters in the Hollow Earth portion of the story, with Anguirus being the one he most likely would have used if he had taken this route. Wingard said in an interview that he would have liked to have used “a living Anguirus”. But Wingard says that giving him a cameo would have been a waste and opted not to feature him at all. The director explained that he would rather Anguirus become “a full character” in the future [via Toho Kingdom], rather than introduce the kaiju in the scene with the smiling lizard monster known as "Doug” and the other Hollow Earth monsters.

As noted by Wingard, monsters like Anguirus are costly because to use them, the rights have to be purchased from Toho. That’s why Dougherty brought original Titans to King of the Monsters in favor of existing kaiju from Toho’s movies. And that’s likely the same reason why Legendary never offered any official confirmation on King of the Monsters’ Anguirus Easter egg.

What all this means is that Anguirus is poised to remain off the table in the MonsterVerse until an opportunity arises for him to play a major role in a movie. If and when that happens, Legendary could acquire the rights and introduce the kaiju, possibly in a project like Godzilla 3. If so, a surviving member of Anguirus’ species could emerge from the Hollow Earth after the events of Godzilla vs. Kong. If his ancestor was an ally to Godzilla who perished during a previous Titan War, he could end up filling the same role by helping him take down Godzilla’s next MonsterVerse villain.

More: GvK Hinted At What Ghidorah's Real Goal Was In Godzilla KOTM

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