Could Humans Survive The MonsterVerse?

Could Humans Survive the MonsterVerse?

In 1954, “Godzilla” first burst onto screens in Japan, heralding a whole new genre of giant monster movies called “kaiju” – or “strange beast”. Since then, Godzilla and others have been terrorising audiences as the bane of major cities everywhere… and now the “MonsterVerse” blockbuster series has thrown kaiju back into the public consciousness. But what if these creatures weren’t limited to just the silver screen?

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; Could humans survive the “MonsterVerse”?

While King Kong may have hit theatres two decades earlier than Godzilla did, with a debut appearance in 1933, it wasn’t until much later that Kong became a part of the kaiju ensemble. Since it was reportedly the popularity of King Kong that partly inspired the creation of Godzilla, however, it was perhaps always destined that the gargantuan pair would one day do battle, with them first coming to blows in 1962’s aptly-named; “King Kong vs. Godzilla”. But while these two are certainly the most prominent and recognisable kaiju around the world, others have appeared alongside them, and some feature as major characters in today’s “MonsterVerse” canon - including iconic characters like King Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra. So, what if these particular movies were real?

It goes without saying that if kaiju were real, disaster measures would need to be extensive - especially in places most prone to attacks, like major cities and coastal regions. In fact, “monster-proofing” would be big business and an ongoing concern, with huge funds set aside just in case of a kaiju attack. There’d probably be even less warning for these attacks than we currently receive for most natural disasters, and the path of a legendary monster laying merciless waste to whichever human settlement gets in its way next would be even less predictable than that of something like a hurricane. All of which means that city-dwellers around the world would live in perpetual fear, always on the look-out and ready to evacuate when needed. Something like King Ghidorah could change where it was heading at any moment, for example, so there’d really be nowhere that was truly safe. And what’s more, the mere presence of one of these monsters could in itself trigger other natural disasters as well. So, an earthquake could just be an earthquake… but it could also be King Kong about to run rampage! We’d never really know where we stood; we’d be forced to live as though our lives were temporary; the very fact that these creatures existed would create chaos.

Ideally, we’d have legitimate, reliable governments to coordinate relief efforts. But it’s maybe unlikely that anyone would trust them. In the “MonsterVerse” movies, Monarch is the clandestine organisation dedicated to the study of the monsters, or “titans”; but they’re so “top secret” that they even go over the top of the US military. If our world were overrun with monsters, then, it could also be clogged with similar government cover-ups and conspiracy plots, as whole nations try to grapple with the roaring, raging problems that they face. Again, it could become difficult for the average person to tell whether a particular event was a genuine disaster - an eruption or a nuclear accident, perhaps - or a full-blooded monster attack. The rifts between the people, the media and the governments would then grow and grow.

Aside from double-crossing bureaucrats, the mere existence of actual monsters would raise even more questions about what kind of universe we live in. In the “MonsterVerse”, King Ghidorah is a malignant alien who seeks to take over and destroy Earth… So, were he to suddenly show up here, there goes all our doubts over the existence of extraterrestrial life. It definitely exists, and in this case, it isn’t friendly! The revelation could be enough for humanity to turn away from space exploration completely, unwilling to risk provoking and summoning more monsters like Ghidorah. The funding that was set aside for space missions would then be reassigned to developing those much-needed defences and to trying to understand the other-worldly creatures now present on our own planet… leading to us becoming a much more insular species in general. It’d probably be the wiser endeavour; after all, we still wouldn’t know if we had a future in outer space, but we would know that if we didn’t learn to defend ourselves against the titans, then we’d have no future at all.

But what would these defences look like? The go-to kaiju management method is usually just; “obliterate them with nukes”, but most of them – and especially Godzilla – are immune to, or even strengthened by, nuclear energy and radiation. While origins do vary, Godzilla was actually awakened by nuclear testing, existing in his original form as a warning against nuclear weapons. So, let’s scrap that idea! Standard ballistic weapons less powerful than nukes would probably prove just as ineffective, though... Traditionally, in the films, the best weapon to use against one of these monsters is another monster. So real-world humans would likely follow suit - setting one legendary creature against another, before standing by to witness the spectacle and intervening only when it’s absolutely necessary. If these things really did exist, then humans would just have to accept that they’d no longer be top of the food chain!

In a world where kaiju are commonplace, it would also be possible to create new ones. In any highly radioactive region, there’d be the potential to make a new monster… And if people were actually trying to trigger a mutation in the vein of Godzilla, it would be all too easy. And so, in a time where even nuclear power is ineffective as a weapon against other countries (since using it could either lure or enhance a local, existing kaiju), perhaps the monsters themselves would become the new super-weapons? In this alternate reality there’d be an all-new arms race based on manufacturing real-life, legendary creatures to defend, attack and follow orders. Militaries worldwide would set about building their own allies; living, breathing monsters that are bigger, better and more brutal than anything else their enemies can muster.

Meanwhile, anyone with the money and means could set about producing their own kaiju privately, for altogether different proposes. We’d see billionaire tycoons talk of “monster tech” and “putting a monster on the moon”, while there’d also be a bristling black market where these rarest of rare creatures are traded. The original plot of “King Kong” saw Kong brought to America to be chained as a lucrative tourist attraction… And, if humans were able to gain any kind of control over similar monsters, we’d likely see a similar outcome, with purpose-built “monster zoos” and even domesticated kaiju in the home - sending insurance premiums through the roof!

It’s not a hypothetical that’s really going to happen anytime soon, but it would present the human race with the ultimate challenge… and it’d clearly be a delicate balance. On the one hand, we’d be at the mercy of monsters that could kill us off in seconds. On the other, and as per the movies, we could ally with some of those monsters, and perhaps even unite humanity against a common threat like King Ghidorah, to ultimately improve all of our lives. And that’s why, with the right approach, humans could survive the “MonsterVerse”.