Top 10 MonsterVerse Easter Eggs
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#10: Monster Zero
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“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) With the MonsterVerse, Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. are creating an entirely new branch of Godzilla mythology. Though this is a fresh start for the King of monsters and his fellow kaiju, these films do make a point of paying homage to the dozens off Toho films that paved the way. One such example is how Ghidorah is referred to as “Monster Zero” in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”. Sure, it’s a cool identifier that fits with the overall style of the Monarch organization, but it’s also a reference to the 1965 film “Invasion of Astro-Monster”. In it, “Monster Zero” is the name used by the Xiliens of Planet X for King Ghidorah. Let’s hope Monarch hasn’t been infiltrated by Xiliens!
#9: USS Saratoga
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“Godzilla” (2014) While the events of these movies are larger than life, the filmmakers do a good job of tying the MonsterVerse to real world history. In 2014’s “Godzilla”, Ford Brody is taken to the USS Saratoga, where he learns about MUTOs and Godzilla. This is the same ship that is later used to follow Godzilla to San Francisco. While multiple American ships have operated under the name Saratoga over the years, arguably the most famous amongst them was USS Saratoga (CV-3), which was used as a test target for an atomic bomb in 1946. Given Godzilla’s own intimate relationship with nuclear weapons, this makes for a nice little nod.
#8: Metal Gear Foreshadow
“Kong: Skull Island” (2017) This one is admittedly tough to catch. Not only because it seems like such a throwaway detail in the film, but because it also requires a knowledge of a totally unrelated video game franchise. The boat that Marlow and his late friend Gunpei, had built is called the “Gray Fox”. For the average cinemagoer that means nothing, but fans of “Metal Gear Solid” will recognize that name as the cyborg ninja from the game. While “Skull Island” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is apparently a big fan of the franchise, there’s a greater significance here. Shortly after “Skull Island” was released, it was announced that Vogt-Roberts had been tapped to direct a film based in “Metal Gear” series.
#7: Various Local Legend Monsters
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“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) When you take a closer look at any of these films, it becomes clear that the filmmakers are having a lot of fun constructing this unique world of monsters. As “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” brings local legends from around the globe into the Monsterverse. Examples include a monster from the infamous Loch Ness, Scotland, where it goes by the name “Titanus Leviathan”. Similarly, Uluru Australia, houses a creature of aboriginal myth under the name “Titanus Bunyip”. Machu Picchu houses “Titanus Quetzalcoatl”, which is based on a Mesoamerican myth, a Cretaceous era pterosaur, and a monster from the 1998 Godzilla animated series. But most surprising of all is Yamata no Orochi at Mt. Fuji, as he was the mythological creature that served as Ishirō Honda’s inspiration for King Ghidorah.
#6: "Hold onto your butts"
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“Kong: Skull Island” (2017) Samuel L. Jackson has been in a LOT of movies. So while coming face to face with a towering skyscraper of an ape like Kong is indeed daunting, this also isn’t his first monster rodeo. After being eaten by a genetically engineered shark in “Deep Blue Sea” and meeting what we can only assume was a rather grisly fate in “Jurassic Park,” we feel that he was well-prepared for his fatal encounter with the ruler of Skull Island. Before meeting Kong’s fist of doom, however, Jackson gets to deliver his famous line from the aforementioned film (JP: Hold on to your butts). In Jurassic Park, he’s saying it before rebooting the park’s system. This time around, a full 25 years later, he says it as the helicopters are taking off.
#5: Infant Island Callbacks
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) Dr. Ilene Chen is a scientist and third-generation Monarch member who history touches deep into Mothra’s lore. When talking about her own familial history, Chen shows old family photos, including pictures from a trip to Infant Island dated 1961. This just so happens to be the year that the first Mothra film was released, and Infant Island was Mothra’s home in the original film series. The other main factor in these photo; is that all the women in her family’s line are twins, no doubt a reference to Mothra’s fairies The Shobijin. Clearly, much like Dr. Chen respects myth, the filmmakers had great reverence for the cinematic history of these monsters.
#4: Apocalypse Now Callbacks
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“Kong: Skull Island” (2017) Watching 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island”, it’s clear that director Jordan Vogt-Roberts took heavy influence from the films set during the Vietnam War. More so than any other movie, however, Francis Ford Coppola’s groundbreaking 1979 film“Apocalypse Now” seems to have served as a major inspiration. By the director’s own admission, he “wanted to see Apocalypse Now with King Kong”. You can see it in the cinematography, from the way the helicopter scenes are shot to the film’s treatment of its beautiful but deadly landscape. The name Marlow also serves as a reference, not to “Apocalypse Now” directly, but Charles Marlow, the narrator in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” which inspired Coppola’s film. There was even an IMAX poster released for Skull Island that aped “Apocalypse Now”.
#3: Mothra Egg by Steven Martin
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) At the end of the 2019 film, during the end credits, a news article appears that reveals that a new mothra egg has been discovered. The byline credits the writing to one Steve Martin. No … it’s not referencing that Steve Martin. This is a real deep cut as far as Godzilla trivia goes, but Steve Martin was actually the name of the character played by Raymond Burr in the international versions of two Toho Godzilla films from 1954 and 1985 respectively. Burr’s character is a journalist who survives Godzilla’s rampage in the 1954 film, which just so happened to be subtitled “King of the Monsters!” for its American release.
#2: Walter White Retraction
“Godzilla” (2014) Unlike most of our other entries, this easter egg isn’t a reference to Godzilla’s own lengthy history, but rather another pop culture juggernaut - Walter White. In the 2014 film, Bryan Cranston, best known for his role as Walter White in Breaking Bad, played Joseph Brody, an ill-fated scientist. Can we maybe keep Cranston’s character away from test tubes and scientific instruments in general? It never seems to end well. Anyways, the opening credit sequence is done in a military document style, with lots of words redacted. When Cranston’s name comes up, the redacted lines momentarily show the words “Walter” and “White”. But, it’s only visible for a single frame, so make sure you have that pause button ready. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions Randa's '33 Outfit “Kong: Skull Island” (2017) Mothra Aquarium “Godzilla” (2014) Snacking on Director “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) Titanus Gojira “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) Akira Jacket “Kong: Skull Island” (2017)
#1: Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
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“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019) Nowhere is the love and reverence for the original Godzilla films more evident than in the treatment of Ken Watanabe’s character. Though the average cinemagoer might not know it, the character is named for two key figures from Godzilla’s past: Ishirō Honda, the first Godzilla director, and Dr. Serizawa, the scientist who sacrificed himself in the 1954 film. The original Dr. Serizawa died taking the secret of his oxygen bomb to the grave while defeating Godzilla. In the 2019 film, Dr. Ishirō Serizawa sacrifices his life not to kill Godzilla, but to save him,detonating a bomb so that humanity’s giant reptilian savior can recover and get back in the fight. It makes for a seriously touching moment and puts his final words in a greater perspective.
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