WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in theaters now.
Legendary's MonsterVerse has been shaken up with the climactic battle of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in which Godzilla uses his new nuclear body-blast to incinerate two of Ghidorah's heads, and devours and fries the third with his atomic breath.
Godzilla emerges from the ruins of Boston as the acknowledged alpha of the Titans, the MonsterVerse's name for kaiju. However, although the film mostly sets up next year's highly anticipated crossover, Godzilla vs. Kong, director Michael Dougherty also lays the foundation for a direct sequel, focusing on the newly crowned king of the monsters.
ANOTHER CLASH OF THE TITANS
There are news reports at the end of the film that indicate how Godzilla is faring in his role as alpha. Many of the Titans have become peaceful, and now coexist with mankind, under the watchful eye of Monarch and the world's governments. However, some clippings reveal Godzilla still has to venture to parts of Asia and Central America to defeat other Titans.
It's clear that not all of them are willing to bow down to him, though. Although Rodan was the first to acknowledge his reign, followed by a new MUTO Prime, not all of Godzilla's former enemies may be so swift to acknowledge his supremacy. It's safe to assume Godzilla will survive his fight with Kong, but it's easy to imagine a Titan uprising following that bout.
It's also worth mentioning that another Mothra-esque egg has been found, so while new villains may be arising, so too could fresh allies.
THE HOLLOW EARTH
In the news reports, we also discover humanity has been searching the Atlantis-like sunken city to which Godzilla retreats to recharge. The location is nuked by Monarch to provide Godzilla an energy boost, but the finale reveals that whatever remains is being explored and dubbed "Hollow Earth," as the ruins run wider and deeper than first imagined.
It's part of a network of tunnels that crisscrosses the globe, allowing Godzilla to travel swiftly, so it may hide additional ancient cities. That means, near the Earth's core, there could be even more apex predators like Godzilla and Ghidorah. The reports suggest Monarch's alliance has also begun to explore beneath Skull Island due to seismic activity. Seeing as that location is now considered the place of origin for the Titans, Godzilla could face equalizers from that location other than Kong.
The film's prequel comic, Godzilla: Aftershock, revealed Monarch has in captivity other creatures, such as the Skullcrawlers from Kong: Skull Island. Therefore, there's a possibility those monsters didn't hear the calls of Godzilla or Ghidorah, and could still come to make their own claim to the throne.
MAN-MADE MONSTERS
The clippings also reveal mankind has been experimenting with the DNA and remains of dead Titans, in hopes of creating food and biofuel. That also opens the door to weaponization. In the post-credits scene, Charles Dance's Jonah Alan buys one of Ghidorah's heads in Mexico, so there's a chance he might have his own eco-terrorist cell of scientists ready to clone the extraterrestrial dragon in a genetic experiment similar to that of 1991's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. He may have also copied the Orca technology, which might permit him to control the beast.
The franchise has even more outlandish territory to explore, possibly by fusing Ghidorah's head with robotic parts to create Toho's Mecha-King Ghidorah from the 1990s. OK, that's unlikely. However, there's the possibility that Jonah's team could create their own original monster, as seen with Biollante, the Toho creature engineered by splicing Godzilla's DNA with human and plant life. It's a Titan for which Dougherty has confessed an affinity.
We can't rule out the MonsterVerse going that oute, taking notes from Pacific Rim and expanding on Jonah's obsession with creating weapons of mass destruction. After all, the film confirmed Ghidorah is an alien, which means little is off the table when it comes to how its decapitated head can be utilized.
Directed by Michael Dougherty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Thomas Middleditch, Charles Dance, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Aisha Hinds and Zhang Ziyi.