Run for the nearest fallout shelter
'cause the monster-verse is getting bigger.
Now the monster-verse of course is the connected universe
that promises to bring together such cinematic titans
as King Kong and Godzilla in a no holds barred,
city destroying grudge match, but those supersized stars
aren't the only thing that differentiate the monster-verse
from some of the other cinematic universes out there.
Among other things, its timeline is a lot twistier
and more intriguing than you might expect.
Unlike the MCU or the DCEU, both of which presented
their first few films in more or less chronological order,
the monster-verse immediately jumped back in time
for its second outing, taking us from the present-day
destruction of Godzilla to the Vietnam-era inspired
insanity of Kong: Skull Island.
It's a cool move that definitely adds a depth of scope
and history to the world but it's also left a lot of fans
scratching their heads over how all of these films
will eventually link up and when exactly
will our favorite monsters face off.
After all, with a nearly 50-year gap between Kong
and 'Zilla, the possibility definitely exists
that their brawl can happen anywhere in between.
But today, the crypto-zookeepers of the monster-verse
offered a little chronological clarification.
On the official Twitter account for Skull Island,
a new video was released that scrolls through some majorly
monstrous events in the history of the Monarch Corporation,
the covert creature-hunting organization
that acts as a main thread through all the films.
While the timeline starts way back in the early
20th century, our focus is on two major events,
one in 1991 and another in 2016.
Now the 2016 event details the Monarch Corporation's
discovery of Monster Zero beneath the antarctic ice sheet
along with the note, "The devil has three heads."
Now no points for guessing what that means
because it's a pretty clear setup for the emergence
of Godzilla's infamous three-headed dragon foe Ghidorah.
But what about that 1991 incident?
That one delves into the Monarch Corp building
an observation outpost around a dormant
volcano in Puerto Rico.
Well there's no specific mention of any monster there
but a brief dive into the backstory of some
of Godzilla's other famous enemies will reveal that Rodan,
the winged serpent, originally emerged
from a dormant volcano so it looks like we're getting
our first real bit of buildup to the headlining event
of 2019's Godzilla: King of Monsters, a three-way battle
royale between Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah.
- Let them fight.
- And actually, you might want to make a little more room
on that title card because there is a mysterious
fourth combatant ready to swoop into the ring, Mothra,
yes, the mothball-hating superbug is also slated
to compete for the king of monsters crown,
or I guess we should say queen of monsters,
since let us not forget, Mothra is a lady, you guys.
Anyways, although she doesn't get highlighted
in the video, she does appear on the timeline
and if you slow it down and zero in on 2009,
you'll see that that was the year a team of Monarch
scientists discovered a giant cocoon in the wilds of China,
a cocoon with a distinct heartbeat inside.
So super cool, we've got Rodan, we've got Ghidorah,
and we've got Mothra, but there's still one big ape
we could forget and he gets a little bit of love
in the video as well.
Between 1995 and 2012, we see that there was
an off-the-books mission to Skull Island
led by Aaron Brooks, son of Houston Brooks,
one of the original characters from Skull Island.
According to that timeline, the expedition ended with Aaron
discovering new information about Kong's origins
and his role on the island, what could that mean
and how does it tie into the other monsters?
Are they all part of some enormous natural order
that we've yet to learn the full truth about?
Only time and a few more awesome monster movies will tell.
But what do you folks think?
Are you stoked for the four-way battle royale
that is Godzilla: King of Monsters, and are there any other
details on that monster-verse timeline that we missed?
Let's discuss.