Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Director on Titanus Doug’s Return, New ‘Kong-Like’ Villain

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard recently spoke with IGN for his first-ever interview about the film. From the sequel’s mysterious primate villain to Titanus Doug’s return, we’ve got all your questions covered. And if that’s not enough to get you pumped, we’ve got a series of exclusive, new stills from the film available in the gallery below.

When fans last saw the two Titans in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, they formed an alliance to take down Mechagodzilla. The latest installment in the MonsterVerse will see Godzilla and Kong once again team up against a brand new foe who threatens to destroy civilization.

Wingard, who was also at the helm of the 2021 film, is making MonsterVerse history as the only filmmaker to ever direct more than one project in the Godzilla franchise. With one monster movie already under his belt, Wingard said he feels more ready than ever to tackle the second — and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of doing more.

Check out these exclusive photos from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Fans should note that the first photo shows Godzilla, frozen in the ice, evolving into a powerful new form:

“The skills that it takes to create a giant monster movie are so specific that you have to learn them, and only at the end of production was I like, ‘Oh wait, now I know,'” Wingard explained. “I had all these different ideas of what I would do next time and how I could improve upon it.”

This time around, Wingard is hyper-focused on doing right by the film’s abundant monsters, each of whom has a unique story to tell.

“So much of the film is entirely animated CG shots; so much of it is just pure imagination,” the director said. “We have some sequences going up to about eight minutes long, where it’s just the monsters doing their thing, and so the movie really allows the monsters to tell their own narrative in a visual, nonverbal way.”

One fan-favorite creature, in particular, is given some rightfully earned screentime in the sequel film: Titanus Doug, a reptilian resident of Hollow Earth who appears in one shot of Godzilla vs. Kong, is making a splashy comeback.

It’s a character I think people have ownership of just because they kind of made him viral in a MonsterVerse sort of way.

The smiley monster was first given its title by fans, who took to social media with praise for the ‘lil guy. Wingard later confirmed that the lizard-like creature would be dubbed “Titanus Doug,” and the name has stuck since, according to Screenrant. “He’s like a little bulldog sort of,” the director joked with us.

“It’s a character I think people have ownership of just because they kind of made him viral in a MonsterVerse sort of way,” he continued.

As fans have probably gathered from the teaser for The New Empire, a brand new creature will be stepping into the spotlight in this film, a “devilish, Kong-type character,” as Wingard described him.

“We wanted to come up with an antagonist that would both be a match for Kong and Godzilla, and that’s really hard to do,” he said. “There’s a lot more to this character and how he’s a threat, and that’s going to be something that’s going to be fun to kind of dole out.”

When it came to thinking of a title for the new film, Wingard said Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was always the top contender. Whereas the last movie was marketed on the contrast between Team Kong versus Team Godzilla, the upcoming sequel places emphasis on the collaboration between the two monsters.

“As soon as the [last] movie came out and the audiences started to see it, I was like, ‘You just can’t separate these two guys again,'” Wingard said, shaking his head with playful contempt. “It’s too exciting having them in one movie. And now, the next one has to be about the continuation of that relationship, which is going to be the team-up.”

As soon as the [last] movie came out and the audiences started to see it, I was like, ‘You just can’t separate these two guys again.’

Also returning to the franchise are Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews, Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes and Kaylee Hottle as Jia, according to Collider. It has yet to be confirmed whether or not Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Julian Dennison or Kyle Chandler are returning.

In their absence, Downtown Abbey star Dan Stevens has joined the cast in a leading role. This marks a reunion for Stevens and Wingard, who last worked together on 2014’s The Guest.

“Ever since The Guest, I’ve been wanting to do another movie with Dan, and it just hasn’t synced up,” Wingard said. “In the back of my head, I was like, you know, If I do another one of these, I gotta get a role for Dan. And so we kind of tailormade this role for him. And I think it’s the most fun character in the entire MonsterVerse in some ways.”

Behind the camera, Godzilla x Kong was penned by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett and Jeremy Slater. The film was produced by Eric McLeod, Mary Parent, Brian Rogers, Alex Garcia and Jon Jashni.

In anticipation of the upcoming film, there’s certainly no shortage of other Godzilla content to go around. Two new shows set in the MonsterVerse were rolled out over the course of this last year: Skull Island on Netflix and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+, and Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted, a prequel comic to the upcoming movie, is also set to release this coming February.

To see the two Titans back on the big screen, fans will have to wait until April 12, 2024, to see Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire in theaters.