[SPOILERS for Kong: Skull Island ahead.]

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Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s Kong: Skull Island arrives next week, with Legendary Pictures looking to capitalize on the commercial success of their Godzilla reboot from 2014 (after Gareth Edwards’ kaiju blockbuster soared to a worldwide gross of $529 million). The marketing for Kong: Skull Island has highlighted its humour and spectacle, with glimpses of impressive action set pieces already exciting fans about the potential of this budding franchise. Hype for Legendary’s MonsterVerse is building quickly, and with the second of two main contenders for the title of ‘King of Monsters’ about to enter the ring, fans have begun to speculate as to how Kong: Skull Island might influence the events of Godzilla: King of Monsters.

It was recently rumoured that a post-credits sting at the end of Kong: Skull Island would tease not only the return of Godzilla, but also the debut of airborne kaiju Mothra and a human character played by Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown. A post-credits scene has since been confirmed, and the content has been detailed. Full spoilers for Kong: Skull Island will follow.

Flickering Myth is reporting on the post-credits scene, claiming that it begins with a voiceover from Tom Hiddleston’s character James Conrad, who asks: “Why are you sitting in the darkness? Are you enjoying this?” This amusing riff on the audience waiting in the theater quickly disappears when it transpires that Conrad is talking to characters behind a one-way mirror. He and Brie Larson’s character Mason Weaver are being interrogated by Monarch, the organization that was introduced in Godzilla, which acts as the spine of the MonsterVerse in the same way that S.H.I.E.L.D. once did for the MCU. They swear themselves to secrecy about the events which transpired on Skull Island, before the real tease begins. They’re told Kong is not “the only King”, and are shown slides of the nuclear blast that created Godzilla, and photos of cave drawings of kaijus Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. The last slide shows Godzilla doing battle with King Ghidora, a direct tease for the events of the Godzilla sequel. Unfortunately, there’s no introduction of Millie Bobby Brown’s character as rumored.

Stingers are now commonplace with any interconnected franchise, so it was almost a given that Kong: Skull Island would set up the next phase of the MonsterVerse in some way. The direct introduction of three classic kaiju into the canon is one of the meatiest post-credits scenes in recent memory, with only Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s introduction of Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver offering nearly as much content for fans to chew on between films.

Information about Godzilla: King of Monsters is coming thick and fast now, from casting confirmations to updates on filming. If Kong is really as enjoyable as critics are suggesting, however, fans will probably leave theaters disappointed at the thought of a three year wait for the heavyweight brawl of Godzilla vs Kong.

Source: Flickering Myth

  • Kong: Skull Island Release Date: 2017-03-10 Godzilla 2 Release Date: 2019-05-31