The new Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con revealed a major name change for the massive creatures of the MonsterVerse. Director Michael Dougherty’s sequel to the 2014 blockbuster promises even more giant beasts for the giant lizard to fight. However, the new film also officially rebrands all of the monsters with a new designation.

2014’s Godzilla not only introduced a new MonsterVerse mythology, it revealed that all of the monsters have been tracked for decades by a clandestine organization called Monarch. When Godzilla first emerged in 1946 to fight another creature called Shinomura, Monarch was assembled as a joint international agency to track and catalog the giant creatures. Monarch designated Godzilla and all of the monsters as “M.U.T.O.s”, which is an acronym for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms. Last year’s Kong: Skull Island, which was set in 1976, continued this designation. Not only were Kong and the creatures he defended his island home from, the Skull Crawlers, also cataloged as M.U.T.O.s, but this was the term Monarch used when they recruited James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) at the post-credits scene.

Godzilla 2’s trailer shows that the MonsterVerse has abandoned “M.U.T.O.” and has officially reclassified the monsters as “Titans.” In King of the Monsters’ update to the mythology, the Earth has undergone a mass extinction caused by humankind. According to the narration by Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), a paleobiologist working for Monarch, the world has undergone a massive change caused by people. The planet is now trying to purge itself of “an infection” - the human race - and the Titans are coming back. She goes on to explain a theory that the Titans are the Earth’s “original and rightful rulers”, who are “a fever to fight the infection.”

The Titans have existed on Earth for thousands of years, predating Man, but have been in hiding all around the world, which echoes the original premise established by Godzilla. The King of the Monsters would periodically rise from his slumber beneath the seas to vanquish Titans that attack the surface. Kong himself served a similar function as ruler and protector of Skull Island; he and his now deceased family fought and killed Skull Crawlers that rose up from beneath the island. Godzilla 2 will also drop some references that will lead to Godzilla Vs Kong.

The giant atomic fire-breathing lizard will have his hands full as even more giant monsters will be let loose. Fans know Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are just a handful of the monsters Godzilla must do battle with. The big mystery Godzilla: King of the Monsters must now solve is why exactly all of the Titans have to be found in order for the human race to be saved. We don’t know if Earth will be big enough for humans and the Titans to co-exist, but from now on, the monsters will not be called M.U.T.O.s

Next: Godzilla 2’s Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah Explained

  • Godzilla 2 Release Date: 2019-05-31 Godzilla Vs Kong Release Date: 2021-03-31