Legendary may have declared its version of Godzilla the "King of the Monsters," but something tells us Toho's latest take on the iconic Kaiju in Godzilla Minus One would completely obliterate that beast.
Put front and centre on a new magazine cover (which we first shared on SFFGazette.com), Godzilla looks downright ferocious here and this is easily up there as one of the most formidable and impressive takes we've seen on the fire-breathing behemoth. Can he be stopped? We wish whoever tries luck because they're quite clearly going to need it!
Check out a closer look at Godzilla Minus One's lead in the Tweet/X below.
This is Toho's first Godzilla movie since 2016's Shin Godzilla, and one of that movie's VFX artists, Takashi Yamazaki, has been tasked with taking the helm of what promises to be an epic new addition to the long-running franchise.
Calling Godzilla Minus One "the culmination of all the films I have made to date," and one that deserves to be "experienced" rather than "watched" in the theater, Yamazaki also wrote the movie and is said to be inspired by formative experiences with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Talking about what fans can expect from Godzilla Minus One, he also recently said, "I have always had the imagery that Godzilla is a nuclear threat, or the shadow of war in the form of a monster. So if I was allowed to it [his own Godzilla film], I wanted to do it in that era [post WWII]."
"Post-war Japan has lost everything. The film depicts an existence that gives unprecedented despair. The title Godzilla Minus One was created with this in mind. In order to depict this, the staff and I have worked together to create a setting where Godzilla looks as if 'fear' itself is walking toward us, and where despair is piled on top of despair."
With the movie's release in Japan right around the corner, the marketing campaign has taken a suitably inventive turn...
"The worst despair in the series' history strikes Japan," reads the official synopsis. "After the war, Japan has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state. The most desperate situation in the history of Japan. Who? And how? Will Japan stand up to it?"
Godzilla Minus One is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, Toho's 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth film in the franchise's "Reiwa" era. It's set to be released in Japan on November 3 and will be unleashed in U.S. theaters on December 1.