The winged Rodan may not be the most well-known or feared of the creatures to feature in next year’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but this pteranodon-like beast is not to be underestimated.
The Rodan species was first introduced in the 1956 film of the same name, and has since appeared in several crossovers with Godzilla and his fellow kaiju. While the monster has often been limited to a supporting role in some colossal cinematic clashes, Michael Dougherty made it clear in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he’s no minor player.
“Rodan’s been kind of a sidekick character, but I’ve always had a soft spot for him. In a lot of ways he’s more powerful than Godzilla. He’s like this winged A-bomb. I think we’ve done him justice.”
Rodan has historically had something of a love-hate relationship with Godzilla, and while the same could probably be said of Mothra and the big lizard, the three-headed King Ghidorah has come to be known as Godzilla’s archenemy. Though we’ve yet to get a look at Dougherty’s versions of most of these creatures, EW released the first image yesterday of the titular King of the Monsters, showing off his patented atomic breath and looking like he’s ready for battle.
Further in his interview with EW, the director also commented on the state of the Monsterverse in the wake of the character’s introduction in 2014’s Godzilla. Naturally, people are a little freaked.
“The world is reacting to Godzilla, in the same way, we would react to any other terrifying incident, in that we are overreacting. There is paranoia and endless speculation about whether he is the only one out there or whether we’re threatened by others like his kind.”
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is expected to arrive in cinemas on May 31st, 2019, before the Big G faces his most famous opponent to date in Godzilla vs. Kong on May 22nd, 2020.
