Fan art showing an epic clash between the two most recent versions of Mechagodzilla to appear in cinema has gone viral.The art was shared by Jared Krichevsky, who works as a creature concept designer for film and television. It was originally composed by DeviantArt user Greengoji02 and shows the Mechagodzilla from Godzilla vs. Kong about to duke it out with the Mechagodzilla that appeared in the finale of the 2018 film Ready Player One.
"Just sharing because seeing two of my designs duke it out is the fucking coolest thing I've ever seen in my life," Krichevsky -- who worked on the designs of both modern versions of the giant mechanized kaiju -- wrote in a follow-up post. Krichevsky enjoyed the artwork such that he logged into his old DeviantArt account to leave a comment on Greengoji02's page, pointing out how the piece was his "desktop background now."
Mechagodzilla appeared in Ready Player One's final battle as the mecha of choice for Nolan Sorrento, the story's main antagonist. In the movie, Nolan used the kaiju to duel both a Gundam and the Iron Giant, while in author Ernest Cline's original novel, Mechagodzilla faced off against Ultraman.
In Godzilla vs. Kong, Mechagodzilla emerged as a secret weapon developed by the technology company Apex Cybernetics. Designed to fight against the Titans rampaging across the Earth, Mechagodzilla was created from one of the severed heads of King Ghidorah, who was vanquished in 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Both Godzilla and Kong had to put their differences aside in the film's finale to tackle the mechanical monstrosity.
Krichevsky's designs for both Mechagodzillas represent different eras of the Godzilla franchise and different design philosophies. The Ready Player One version harkens back to the original 1974 Mechagodzilla design which debuted in the film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, combining aspects of the more modern redesign known as "Kiryu" that appeared in 2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. In contrast, the Godzilla vs. Kong version was intended to evoke a new vibe that was instantly recognizable as Godzilla but also reminiscent of the Terminator T-800, according to Krichevsky.
"The skeletal structure, the eerie but uncanny similarity of man with the cold steel of machine," Krichevsky wrote, describing which aspects of the T-800 he was most influenced by. "Mechagodzilla had to look different than any other previous versions...He couldn't look like an exact machine version of Godzilla, which was my first attempt. So I went to opposites, Godzilla has a thick body, so I went with a lean, fish-like body and skeletal tail. Godzilla has stubby arms, so I gave him extra reach...I wanted this Mecha to be fast and maneuverable."