It’s considered somewhat rude and disrespectful to refer to those with monarchic titles by their name and nothing else, but it turns out that the gigantic simian ruler of Skull Island wasn’t being slighted by anyone. Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard confirmed on the special features of the movie’s home video release that the Titan didn’t officially assume regal status until the midway point of the recent MonsterVerse blockbuster.
That would go some way towards explaining why Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ period piece wasn’t called King Kong: Skull Island, and why Wingard’s own effort wasn’t branded as Godzilla vs. King Kong. Admittedly, the chosen titles are also a lot smoother and more marketable, but now we know that there’s a canon reason for it as well.
At the midway point of Wingard’s monster mash, an intrepid band of one-dimensional human characters accompany Kong through the Hollow Earth, culminating in the big guy sitting on the throne that clearly belonged to his predecessors. As per Wingard in the featurette Behold Kong’s Temple, the transformation wasn’t complete until he parked his big hairy ass on the seat, with the filmmaker remarking that “you really get to see Kong turn into King Kong”.
Admittedly, all he really had to do was pick up a weapon and sit down, but it’s still a hugely symbolic moment within the framework of the MonsterVerse. Having picked up where his lineage left off as the final member of his species, there was hardly a huge line of candidates awaiting their coronation, but it does at least provide a new plot point to tug at whenever the Legendary and Warner Bros. Godzilla vs. Kong follow-up film arrives.
