The trailer for the highly anticipated “Godzilla vs. Kong” was released on Jan. 24. The trailer revitalizes a rivalry that has only been shown in one feature film back in 1962 titled “King Kong vs. Godzilla” in explosive and mysterious fashion. 

Spoiler ahead – This story will touch on major plot points from “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and the implications that film has on “Godzilla vs. Kong” 

Things to remember from 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and 2014’s “Godzilla” 

• In 2014’s “Godzilla,” the Monarch corporation found skeletal remains from another Godzilla.
• After defeating King Ghidorah, Godzilla reigns king amongst the titans. 
• Mothra sacrificed herself to give Godzilla the upper edge against King Ghidorah, but in the end credits, the Monarch corporation found another Mothra egg.
• In the end credits, seismic disturbances have been reported on Skull Island where Kong resides. New Titans have been drawn to the island and the Monarch corporation has boosted forces around the island.
• Alan Jonah, the head of an eco-terrorist group is in possession of one of King Ghidorah’s three heads with plans to use it in some capacity. 

The trailer sets the premise that Kong is civilization’s defender from a rogue Godzilla. Up until this point in the Monsterverse, Godzilla has aided humanity against the Titans wreaking havoc on life as they know it. In the trailer for “Godzilla vs. Kong,” Godzilla has gone off the rails, thus leading to the conflict between Kong and Godzilla. 

Some may find this hard to believe, but the true Godzilla most likely isn’t in this trailer at all. In the first seconds of the trailer, viewers get a shot of this metal silhouette looming over a city street full of fleeing civilians. It’s very quick but easily distinguable. That metal silhouette is Mechagodzilla. 

In previous Godzilla films, Mechagodzilla has been known to have an artificial outer shell that resembles the real Godzilla with a Godzilla skeleton inside as its foundation. 2014’s “Godzilla” has already established that there is a Godzilla skeleton idle and ready for use. This trailer also portrays Godzilla in a very different light than the last two films. In this trailer, Godzilla is very sporadic; his tail looks vastly different, he’s sloppy during the fights shown, and he uses atomic breath too often. 

Later in the trailer, there is a shot of Ren Serizawa, played by Shun Oguri, in front of high-end tech and monitors that display a blueprint of what appears to be Mechagodzilla. Ren Serizawa has built Mechagodzilla with malicious intent, leading Kong to protect humanity. 

There is another shot in the trailer of Kong about to attack what is probably Mechagodzilla with an axe that uses Godzilla’s dorsal fin as the blade. This is when Kong will unveil that it isn’t Godzilla, it’s Mechagodzilla. 

At that point, Mechagodzilla will probably ditch his artificial outer shell leading to the metal silhouette established in the beginning of the trailer. 

With the cat out of the bag, Serizawa is free to let Mechagodzilla, and the ridiculous technology that comes with it, out on Kong. Kong stands no chance against Mechagodzilla, and that’s when the true Godzilla will appear to fight off Mechagodzilla alongside Kong for the sake of protecting humanity. 

Most of the plot is still unclear. The trailer doesn’t explain much, but based on previous Godzilla franchise knowledge, hints given throughout other Monsterverse films and the subtle hints in the trailer, this theory most likely isn’t far off. There are still questions like: will Mecha Ghidorah make an appearance? Will Mothra and other Titans shown in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” make appearances? And that is the beautiful thing about the trailer: there is still so much viewers don’t know.