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With the overwhelming success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comfortably dominating multiple mediums with a single connected continuity, it's obvious that other studios would want a cut. Though only a couple of big franchises have managed to pull it off, several previous concepts lie dead from the stress of attempting. Luckily, one of the most enduringly popular characters of all time provides an example.

Godzilla was created by Ishiro Honda in 1954 as a bracingly nightmarish allegory for the atomic bomb. That first outing for the King of the Monsters is the kind of perfectly simple horror film that should stand as a monument to the power of cinema as messaging. Immediately after his debut, however, Godzilla took on a very different cultural impact.

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After the overwhelming success of the original Godzilla, the studios immediately set to work making sequels and trying to create a successor. The first sequel, Godzilla Raids Again, is generally not particularly well-remembered and there was a seven-year gap before the third entry. In the meantime, however, Toho made several attempts to recapture the glory. In 1956, the studio and Ishiro Honda released Rodan, which went on to substantial popularity but still fell short of Godzilla. In 1961, they teamed up once again to drop Mothra, which also didn't recapture the old glory, but did become a cult classic. With a few new interesting kaiju films in the bank, each introducing a new monster to the roster, all directed by the same master who brought them Godzilla, the next answer was obvious. Let them fight.

mothra-original-movie Cropped

Godzilla's fourth outing, released in 1964 and also directed by Ishiro Honda, was entitled Mothra vs. Godzilla. This was a cross-over production in an era that didn't feature a ton of examples of that phenomenon. Supposedly, Toho and Honda didn't intend to pair the two creatures together when they came up with them. The plot is fairly simple, comparable to modern incarnations of the vs movie format like AVP: Alien vs. Predator or Freddy vs. Jason. Mankind is attacked once again by Godzilla, but, this time, people are experienced dealing with kaiju. They reach out to the island residents who commune with Mothra for the giant insect's aid. They initially refuse, disgusted by mankind's use of nuclear weaponry, but Mothra eventually agrees to help without their permission. Mothra is defeated in combat with Godzilla, but she dies defending her larvae who then defeat the King of the Monsters.

The immediate follow-up, also released in 1964 and also directed by Ishiro Honda, was entitled Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. While the iconic golden dragon character of the title was not established in a previous film, this film also features the return of Rodan and another showcase for Mothra. If Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan are the opening films of the Godzilla Cinematic Universe, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is their answer to The Avengers. The three powerful kaiju are brought together to face a new threat and must join forces to save the world. After this film, like many other cinematic universes, every film was effectively a cross-over. With its primary players established, the future Godzilla films simply used whichever toys it felt like and introduced new ones with wild abandon. Mothra shows up regularly while Rodan is a little less prolific. Godzilla is obviously in every entry, but Ghidorah is saved for special occasions.

There is continuity across the franchise, but, the most interesting thing about the prospective Godzilla Cinematic Universe (GCU), is that it was more ambitious than modern versions of the idea. The third film to feature Godzilla, released in 1962 and yet again directed by Ishiro Honda is entitled King Kong vs. Godzilla. After multiple lengthy legal battles and messy exchanges, Toho got the rights to use the character who largely inspired the early giant monster boom that gave Godzilla life. Modern cinematic universes exist primarily to tie all the IP owned by a single studio into one unstoppable juggernaut, ensuring that the entire venture is profitable. The idea of a modern movie studio loaning out one of its marketable characters to strengthen a competitor would be considered suicidal by those with the money to make it happen. King Kong remains one of the most integral figures in the GCU, even though he only appears a few times throughout.

screenshot from King Kong vs. Godzilla

The modern Godzilla film franchise also follows a cinematic universe model, referred to colloquially as the Monsterverse. Rather than coming up with several monster movies, mostly directed by the same singular creative force, then putting them together to see what would happen, the Monsterverse was the plan from the start. Fans still cry out for cross-overs in this modern incarnation, eager to see franchises like Pacific Rim join the Monsterverse. In many ways, the GCU was the ideal of what a cinematic universe could be, and it does the idea better than several modern iterations do today.

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