Why Is Godzilla Pink: 5 Theories Why Gojira's Power Looks Different In New Empire
The first trailer for "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," brings the promise of a new rip-roaring team-up between two of cinema's most famous giant monsters. The film, which will see Godzilla and King Kong join forces again to battle a hidden enemy that threatens their world, continues the high-octane mayhem of Legendary's MonsterVerse with some notable power-ups to its titular duo.
Along with seeing a collection of new creatures and a glimpse of their newest adversary, the trailer also unveils a new design for the King of the Monsters himself. Instead of Godzilla's usual blue bioluminescence, he now sports vibrant pink lights piercing out of his dorsal spines, eyes, and gills. The eye-popping new look also translates to his powers, as even his trademark atomic heat ray has converted to pink coloration.
Godzilla's look has gone through numerous alterations throughout the kaiju king's nearly decade-long reign in the MonsterVerse. However, this new coat of paint is perhaps his most drastic design change in quite a while and is sure to have fans' minds racing with reasons for the change. Until we get the definitive answer, here are a few possibilities for Godzilla's latest makeover.
It references earlier Godzilla designs
Fans are well aware that Godzilla's design has never stayed the same. Due to the franchise's varying tones, the creature's altering narrative functions, and technical advances in special effects technology, Godzilla appears drastically different from film to film. But in the case of the monster's new look in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," it's possible that his pink color may be a call-back to older versions of the character.
Within the nearly seven-decade-old film series, Godzilla has donned pink spines and even atomic powers on a handful of occasions. The first major instance was for "Godzilla 2000" and "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus," the first two installments of the Millennium era of the early 2000s. Despite each movie taking place in a separate continuity, they each make use of the same Godzilla suit known as MireGoji. While the dorsal spines are mainly dark grey, they are notable for the bold purplish-pink highlights on the edge of the spines that don't seem too far off from Godzilla's design in "The New Empire."
More recently, 2016's "Shin Godzilla" made extravagant use of pink coloring for the titular kaiju. Similar to "The New Empire," the vibrant tone runs throughout the monster's body and makes up the color of the beam attack that he shoots out of his mouth, body, and tail. If Godzilla starts blasting his atomic ray through his spines in "The New Empire," we'll know who to blame.
Godzilla is evolving into his biggest, baddest form yet
Each entry of the MonsterVerse aims to up the ante for Godzilla, giving the towering titan new enemies to challenge his power. Both King Ghidorah in "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and Mechagodzilla in "Godzilla vs. Kong" more than gave Godzilla a run for his money. "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" seems to be going down a similar route, as the titular monsters will need each other's help to take on Scar King. But Godzilla's pink powers may indicate that he's coming into this battle prepared.
"The New Empire" trailer sees Godzilla emerge from a cavern of ice surrounded by a glowing pink light. Whether it's something he's absorbed from the ground or a biological change within the creature himself, it's clear that Godzilla has gotten a power boost from whatever new has entered his system. Many fans have pointed out Godzilla's increased agility. While initially more bulky in prior entries, Godzilla sports longer arms and runs at a similar speed to King Kong here, which could be the result of his newfound abilities. Given that their new adversaries will be more witty and agile than before, it makes sense that the lizard king would turn to a fighting style similar to that of his primate counterpart.
Godzilla's power-up could have been brought on by human interference
Many of the monsters within the Godzilla franchise, including the Big G himself, are the product of man's tampering with nature, usually with disastrous results. However, the MonsterVerse has shown how potentially destructive weapons can benefit monsters and humanity, which may be the case for Godzilla's pink-powered transformation in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."
Following a near-death experience following the unleashing of the oxygen destroyer in 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," the Monarch crew devise a plan to reawaken the beast. Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) makes a noble sacrifice by detonating a nuclear warhead in Godzilla's underground lair, which revives him. The increased radiation gives Godzilla a new boost of power that allows him to reach Boston and face the mighty King Ghidorah.
Could Godzilla's upgrade in "The New Empire" be the result of human meddling? If the battle between the Guardian Titans and their new enemies is as grand as the trailer advertises, then humanity may need to step in and give the monsters a hand — quite literally in the case of King Kong, who is equipped with a robotic arm enhancement in the film.
New design means new merchandising potential
Fans can find 101 different narrative reasons for why Godzilla goes pink in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." But many viewers are well aware of the true motivation behind the attention-grabbing new look. As they're behind a potential Hollywood blockbuster installment of an ongoing billion-dollar franchise, those at Warner Bros. and Legendary are more than likely salivating at Pink Godzilla's vast merchandising potential.
Come April 2024 when the film releases, new toy versions of Godzilla, King Kong, and their many creature co-stars will be readily available and lapped up by avid fans. Keeping Godzilla's look unaltered from prior installments isn't much of a motivator for buyers to drop gargantuan amounts of money on toys, Funko Pops, T-shirts, hoodies, and so on. But giving the character a drastically fresh appearance is a practically guaranteed method to get fans excited for both the film and the merchandise simultaneously. This can equal big paydays, as movie franchises such as Pixar's "Cars" notably make more from merchandising than their box office receipts.
Some believe it's riding off Barbenheimer's success
2023 may have been a tumultuous year at the box office, but audiences around the world made sure to pack cinemas to witness the double feature domination of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." Even after the same-day July 21 release of both movies, studios still tried to artificially manufacture the Barbenheimer chokehold, such as Paramount's short-lived #SawPatrol campaign and even schlock legend Charles Band's upcoming "Barbenheimer" movie that playfully mashes up the contrasting films. Perhaps not wanting to slow down the momentum of their billion-dollar hit, Godzilla's new look gives Warner Bros. a unique opportunity to generate some buzz.
Of course, Godzilla's origins stem from Japan's trauma inflicted by the atomic bombs dropped in the country toward the end of World War II, which were due in large part to the scientific advancements made by physicist and Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer. This, combined with the monster's pink color, already has some fans calling this rose-colored Godzilla the result of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer."
Even if not deliberately the motivation for altering Godzilla's design, it is already making for an effective piece of marketing that will have viewers drawing playful comparisons. However, if Warner Bros. released "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" a month later, the studio may have been able to take advantage of another primate-filled venture with "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."