Is ‘Godzilla Minus One’ a prequel or a sequel? Its MonsterVerse connections, explained

Now is a good time to be a Godzilla fan. Not only is Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the first TV spinoff of Legendary’s MonsterVerse, unfolding weekly on Apple TV Plus, Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire is set to hit theaters in spring 2024. In addition, Godzilla Minus One opens in limited theaters in the U.S. this winter.

But what is Godzilla Minus One, apart from being the 37th movie based on the King of Monsters ever made and featuring a redesign of the titular kaiju that comes heartily recommended by Guillermo del Toro? Is it a prequel, remake, or reboot of an earlier film and does it have any connections to the MonsterVerse?

Godzilla Minus One‘s complex connections to the franchise, explained

Simply put, Godzilla Minus One is not a part of Legendary’s MonsterVerse. As a Japanese production, it is the latest in the long and illustrious line of original Godzilla movies from Toho, the studio that created the character back in 1954’s original Godzilla film. As for how Minus One connects to the Toho series, that takes a bit of explaining.

No, Minus One isn’t a reboot, a remake, or even a straight-up sequel or prequel, but it does have significant connections to the first Godzilla from director Ishirō Honda. The best way of describing it is as a sister film, or “sidequel,” to the original. Set in the 1940s, the new film returns to a period setting, in contrast to the tradition of bringing Godzilla into the modern-day, and in doing so tells a fresh story that restarts the franchise as well as tipping its hat to the past.

Following Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a former kamikaze pilot suffering from survivor’s guilt as he returns home to Tokyo after the end of World War Two, Minus One is directly revisiting the themes of Honda’s original film by exploring post-war Japan. What’s more, its storyline can be viewed as slotting in between or alongside the narrative of the 1954 movie. In essence, it is a reboot, but one that honors the continuity and spirit of what’s come before.

Receiving critical acclaim, Godzilla Minus One is releasing in over 1,000 theaters across North America from Dec. 1.