Why didn’t Kong answer Ghidorah’s call in Godzilla: King of the Monsters? In the third MonsterVerse movie, Kong was frequently referenced, but missing from the action. The King of Skull Island is of course being saved for the next installment, Godzilla vs. Kong.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ human villains unleashed a threat they had no way of controlling when they used the Orca to awaken Ghidorah, an alien Titan and the ancient rival of Godzilla. After emerging from a frozen slumber, Ghidorah defeated Rodan and let out a call that was heard all over the planet by his fellow monsters. New a third M.U.T.O. were all shown awakening from their hiding places and heading off to follow the commands of Ghidorah, who they all regarded as their new alpha. 11 other Titans, including Leviathan, Quetzalcoatl, and more, all heard the call as well, but didn’t appear onscreen.
Notably absent from Ghidorah’s army of Titans was Kong. The Godzilla: King of the Monsters novelization elaborates on Kong’s situation during the events of the movie. The novelization confirms that Kong did indeed hear Ghidorah, but mentions that he had heard calls like it before. He recognized it as a call to hunt, but he chose to ignore it because “he didn’t care about their places, their islands. Best they not come for his.” The idea here is that Skull Island is Kong’s home, and what happens beyond its waters is none of his concern.
The problem for Kong was that the Skullcrawlers from Kong: Skull Island heard it too. Ghidorah inadvertently woke them up and this resulted in a new challenge for the island’s defender. Kong had to stay on Skull Island to stop the Skullcrawlers from wreaking havoc again. The novelization doesn’t get into the fight, but does reveal that one is coming up now that they’re awake again. It could be that this struggle will take place between the events of King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong.
Regardless of what the call meant for Skull Island, it shines some light on what activities of his fellow Titans. Because of this attitude, Kong will have no reason to treat Godzilla with the respect owed to the alpha. In fact, Kong, similar to Ghidorah, is likely a rival alpha of Godzilla who may end up fighting him for the title. This could happen if certain events force Godzilla to invade Kong’s home. If Kong sees Godzilla as an invader, he may seek to demonstrate his superiority by attempting to defeat him.
