Warning: Spoilers for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Summary

• Godzilla vs. Kong 3 could mark the end of the Monsterverse's ancient rivalries with the introduction of Destoroyah as a new villain.
• Destoroyah's origin story from the 1996 film offers a unique challenge to Godzilla, as a monster born from human mistakes.
• If Destoroyah is brought into the Monsterverse, Godzilla faces a mysterious and unpredictable adversary, setting up an exciting battle.

By choosing Destoroyah as Godzilla vs. Kong 3's villain, the movie can finally end a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire's ending, the pair of alpha Titans are on track to team up yet again.

For the time being, there's no word on what Godzilla and Kong will be up against. Godzilla x Kong didn't directly set up any future threats, leaving the identity of the Godzilla x Kong sequel's villain open to speculation. With the option of creating another original Titan, plus Toho's library of kaiju presumably being on the table, the Monsterverse has no shortage of good options. Among the most appealing choices is Destoroyah, and not because of his power level and menacing design. With him, the Monsterverse would upend a ten-year trend and offer something completely new in the process.

Destoroyah Would Be The First Monsterverse Godzilla Villain Who Isn't An Ancient Rival

Godzilla Has Existing Relationships With All Of His Monsterverse Villains

Though each Monsterverse film is unique in its own way, they do share a specific theme: ancient rivalries. So far, all of Godzilla's primary opponents are monsters he shares some sort of history with. That was the case with the MUTOs in Godzilla, Kong, King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and the Monsterverse's Skar King in The New Empire. Even Mechagodzilla fell under that category; despite being a newly created weapon of humanity, Mechagodzilla was understood to be a reborn version of Ghidorah. However, it's likely that any interpretation of Destoroyah would be an exception to this tradition.

In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, the titular villain was revealed to be a consequence of one of the most famous moments in Godzilla's history, the activation of the Oxygen Destroyer. In the 1954 film, Godzilla was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer. Despite existing separately from the film, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah built on the original movie's ending by explaining that the Oxygen Destroyer mutated a cluster of crustaceans, which evolved into Destoroyah. By giving him this origin, Destoroyah was able to serve as a personification of the one thing capable of killing Godzilla.

Because this concept is crucial to who Destoroyah is as a character, it's hard to imagine the Monsterverse deviating from this if and when it brings him to the big screen. With that in mind, it can be counted on that its take on Destoroyah would be a whole new adversary for Godzilla. The premise of the character wouldn't allow for him to be reworked to fit into the lore of the Monsterverse's Titan lore in the same way that Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan were in King of the Monsters. Like his Toho counterpart, Destoroyah would most assuredly be introduced as a monster recently born from human mistakes.

The Monsterverse Already Has The Setup It Needs For Destoroyah

The Biggest Building Block For Destoroyah Has Been In Place Since 2019

Adding credence to the idea that Destoroyah would go unchanged when making the jump to the Monsterverse is a development from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In the movie, the military used the Oxygen Destroyer in a failed attempt to kill Godzilla and Ghidorah when the pair were fighting in the ocean. It severely injured Godzilla, but didn't kill him. But while it wasn't nearly as impactful as the original version of the classic Toho weapon, its use could still hold major implications if it leads to Destoroyah's debut.

By this point in the Monsterverse timeline, the events of King of the Monsters were eight years ago, as it was set in 2019 and The New Empire took place in 2027. Assuming that Godzilla vs. Kong 3 has a time jump similar to past installments, it makes sense that'll be at be least ten years since the Oxygen Destroyer was deployed. That's a much shorter timeframe than what Godzilla vs. Destoroyah offered, but still provides enough time for Destoroyah to have slowly transformed behind the scenes, unbeknownst to Monarch and perhaps even Godzilla himself.

Since the concept behind the Oxygen Destroyer is in line with Toho's, the origin of the monster can easily be an accurate retelling of the 1996 classic, but in the context of the Monsterverse. ittedly, he won't be seen as the manifestation of the weapon that killed Godzilla (since that didn't happen), but he can be recognized as a product of something that truly is a threat to Godzilla's very existence.

As A "New" Villain, Destoroyah Would Be A Completely Different Challenge For Godzilla

How Would Godzilla Try To Stop Destoroyah?

The unfamiliar nature of Destoroyah would make for a refreshing change for the Monsterverse. Due to his histories with his movies' respective villains, Godzilla seems to generally know what he's dealing with. Against Skar King and Shimo, there was never any moment where there was a sense that they might win. Part of that has to do with the fact that Godzilla had obtained his Evolved form just to prepare for Shimo. Similarly, his efforts to beat Ghidorah, the MUTOs, and Kong were also all premeditated; he walked into each fight with at least some understanding of what to expect.

Destoroyah, on the other hand, would plunge him into unchartered territory. The closest Godzilla has come to such a situation was Godzilla vs. Kong when he fought Mechagodzilla. With its missiles and laser beam attack, Mechagodzilla possessed capabilities Godzilla had no defense for at the time. With Destoroyah's ability to transform and his devastating mico-oxygen ray, he too can push Godzilla to the edge with attacks Godzilla may have great difficulty adjusting to in the movie.

What will set these two apart is that in Mechagodzilla's case, Godzilla seemed acutely aware that Ghidorah was being revived, and was making efforts to stop this from happening. It'll be different with Destoroyah, whose lack of history will make his motives more mysterious and unpredictable. That aspect of the creature would ensure that Destoroyah serves as an exciting challenge for Godzilla if he does indeed appear in Godzilla vs. Kong 3.

The sense of danger he would instill into the story would be made even greater by Destoroyah's reputation outside the Monsterverse. The final villain of the Heisei era, Destoroyah is ed as the only monster Godzilla died to defeat. Destoroyah has enjoyed a great deal of infamy since, and questions about whether the Monsterverse will want their version to live up to those expectations would permeate throughout Godzilla vs. Kong 3 if he was in the film.