If there was ever any doubt that Monarch, the top-secret government agency first introduced to moviegoers in 2014’s Godzilla, would tie together both Gareth Edwards’ creature feature and Kong: Skull Island, the official NYCC poster ought to put any lingering suspicion to bed.
At first glance, the old-timey one-sheet is rather unremarkable, displaying a birds-eye view of the primordial Skull Island. But thrust that poster under a blacklight and you’ll uncover a host of Monarch secrets, including a colossal skeleton residing deep beneath that titular isle. Although common knowledge would dictate it belongs to the King of Monsters, upon further inspection, the skeletal make-up doesn’t really match up with that of Gojira’s – the elongated snout, the scorpion-like tail.
Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that there are plenty of story clues littered across the grid, one that belongs to William Randa, the monster expert portrayed by John Goodman in the 2017 feature. He headlines a team that includes Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson and John C. Reilly, and judging by those hair-raising annotations, knows a thing or two about what lies beneath. Here’s an excerpt:
His mouth is fire; his roar the floodwater; his breath is death. Enlil made him guardian of the Cedar Forest, To frighten off the mortal who would venture there. BUT WHO WOULD VENTURE THERE?
The question now is whether Goodman’s tracker is referring to Gojira – “his mouth is fire” sure sounds like a nod to atomic breath – or King Kong. Enlil, meanwhile, is a mesopotamian deity, but we’re unsure how (if?) it filters into the story beyond this smart use of world-building. We’ll be keeping track of this story as it develops, but be sure to leave your theories down below the gallery.
Kong: Skull Island opens on March 10, 2017. Legendary’s monstrous slate also spans a Godzilla sequel in 2018, followed swiftly by the main event – Godzilla Vs. King Kong in 2020.
