Godzilla's Most Disturbing Form Is Too Weird (And Controversial) To Return
Considering that the "Godzilla" franchise has been going strong for nearly 70 years, it makes sense that the King of Monsters has undergone significant changes throughout his numerous film, television, and literary appearances. Some of the more unique variations include the American "Zilla" featured in 1998's "Godzilla" (which was a mutated iguana that left a score of eggs behind, reminiscent of "Alien") and "SpaceGodzilla" from the aptly-named "Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla" (which was created when a black hole in outer space mutated Godzilla's cells).
Although these versions of the character certainly offered a fresh take on the classic kaiju, by far the strangest and most disturbing Godzilla we've ever seen is the titular monster from 2016's "Shin Godzilla." The Godzilla we meet in "Shin Godzilla" begins as a newly discovered species that was created as a result of nuclear waste, which is constantly evolving as it weaves a path of destruction across Tokyo, beginning as an aquatic creature and eventually transforming into a bipedal kaiju more akin to previous Godzilla designs.
The second and third forms of Shin Godzilla are revolting slimy creatures with bulging eyes and half-developed limbs, and his fourth form — most similar to previous Godzilla iterations — is covered with red lesions and scarlike scales. Even more disgusting is its tail, which mutates to include a malformed jaw and mouth when the monster enters its fifth form.
Fans want Godzilla to stay big, not split itself into small eldritch horrors
As strange and horrifying as Shin Godzilla's four previous forms might be, the true controversy surrounding this film relates to the creature's fifth form. Mankind manages to halt Shin Godzilla's reign of terror by injecting him with a coagulant that freezes the giant monster into a colossal statue, coincidentally freezing him during his transformation to form five.
What follows is an ending straight out of a Lovecraftian horror story, in which it's revealed that a horde of nightmarish humanoid creatures was sprouting from Shin Godzilla's tail, apparently being the next stage in the creature's evolution. These terrifying half-human half-kaiju creatures are somewhat controversial among fans of the "Godzilla" series, as some franchise purists believe that splitting the monster into an army of smaller abominations is too far-fetched and strange for the "Godzilla" universe.
"The idea of eldritch Humanoids spawning from Godzilla is outlandish," wrote @diowrld4118 on YouTube, saying that "Shin Godzilla" should have introduced another massive kaiju for the King of Monsters to take on. "Still a major controversy on the monsterverse cause if you take the 'giant' out of the 'giant monster', it's just a regular everyday media monster," wrote @eggseed6543. On Reddit, u/Dekunetsuo357 touched on how the film and titular character leaned too much into the horror realm. Meanwhile, u/The-Jack-Niles wrote: "Shin feels nothing like Godzilla to me, it's just a monster that comes to look like Godzilla."
An unfortunate comparison to the 1998 Godzilla film
The film's grotesque and horror-inspired ending struck a nerve with some of the more fervent "Godzilla" purists, as splitting the kaiju into a swarm of Xenomorph-like monstrosities is a far cry from the massive monster battles we've become accustomed to throughout the franchise.
Certain fan backlash to "Shin Godzilla's" ending mirrors a similar outrage to the ending of the aforementioned American version of "Godzilla" from 1998, where we see several of the miniature baby versions of Zilla stampede through New York City. Writing for his personal blog, reviewer Jack Kroll claimed that these babies are one of the main reasons why the 1998's "Godzilla" remains one of the most hated films in the franchise, as the baby monsters turned the movie into a blatant "Jurassic Park" ripoff rather than focusing on the titular giant kaiju.
The fan reaction to these baby Zillas and the evolved humanoids in "Shin Godzilla" make it clear that many fans prefer their Godzilla to stay huge and that focusing on tiny monsters overrunning a city is not what the franchise is about. In any case, fans who found no joy in the disturbing humanoids of "Shin Godzilla" will be happy to hear that Toho has since canceled their plans for a sequel to the film, opting to follow the Marvel path and create their own cinematic universe of kaiju films instead.