Godzilla vs. Kong marks the payoff of seven years of build-up in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse. Preceded by three other films, its release is essentially the end of "Phase One" of the movies. Fans don't really know where the MonsterVerse is going to go from here, but taking inspiration from the first entry in the series would be a good start.
2014's Godzilla started the franchise, but it's notably different from the more recent entries. Somber, sullen and focusing on the human perspective of the monsters' destruction, Godzilla felt like more than just a mindless action movie. With the pomp and circumstance of the newest film, a return to a more introspective scope for a sequel is exactly what the MonsterVerse needs.
Godzilla vs. the MonsterVerse
Godzilla was in many ways a throwback to the original. Though it had Godzilla facing other Kaiju in the form of the Mutos, the bigger focus was on how the humans responded to all of the visceral carnage going on around them. Shown mostly from this human perspective and shot under dark clouds of ash, the hopelessness and claustrophobia of the terrifying situation was much more emphasized than in a mere mindless monster melee.
Since then, the films have abandoned this tone and focused more on the expected monster carnage, doing so in a much less grounded or horrifying way. This was to be expected, but it's certainly disappointing to see a tone with such potential thrown away for something more stereotypical for the genre. This is especially the case for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This film was not well received by critics thanks to its poor writing and focus on Kaiju action. It blatantly went against the first film, trying to correct that movie's mistakes, but in doing so, it made other flaws.
King of the Monsters was the lead-up to the more successful Godzilla vs. Kong, which correctly utilized the franchise's more bombastic elements. While this proved to be beneficial in this case, it'd be a mistake to follow Godzilla vs. Kong up with another huge romp of its caliber, so the logical thing to do with the MonsterVerse is another movie like Godzilla.
A New Kaiju for the MonsterVerse
To keep the universe fresh and to prevent the established monsters from being overused, this tentative film should likely use a new monster. This could either be an original creation or a Toho monster -- such as Baragon or Anguirus -- that has yet to be shown in the MonsterVerse. This could create a potential new IP and add a bit of mystery through the monster's obscurity or originality.
The setting should also be somewhere besides the usual franchise locals of New York, California, Tokyo, Hong Kong or Skull Island. A different country that covered multiple living situations, from rural to metropolitan, would also allow the monster's destruction to be viewed from a variety of angles.
As mentioned, the tone should be much more somber and focused one how harrowing the situation is from a ground level. This would require well-developed and likable humans, something which the franchise has a hard time producing at times, but making their reactions realistic and not falling back on blockbuster style quips would go a long way in helping this. Focusing on the singular monster would also make the danger more intimate, similar to the original Godzilla and films like Cloverfield.
With the most recent film just now releasing, there's been no word of what the next step is, with the lack of a cliffhanger making it even more mysterious. There are a number of directions to go, but if Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures dial back on the spectacle to deliver a smaller film, it could still make for a gut-wrenching disaster movie.
Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film is in theaters and on HBO Max now.