The MonsterVerse has successfully revived the kaiju genre for modern audiences, but that doesn’t mean it always makes perfect sense. While the likes of Godzilla and King Kong have long been staples of the big screen, their most recent outings have placed them at the center of Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, where they have been able to truly shine thanks to modern advancements in visual effects technology. The MonsterVerse has already grown into a hugely successful franchise that puts the iconic monsters at the heart of its incredible action spectacles, delighting audiences of all ages around the world. However, the franchise’s logic isn’t always totally sound.
While the franchise might have delivered the most popular versions of King Kong and Godzilla for quite some time, it also falls victim to numerous plot holes. Maintaining a level of logic and consistency is difficult when you’re dealing with colossal monsters capable of destroying the Earth, but that doesn’t make these problems any less noticeable. For all the MonsterVerse’s considerable quality, the following plot holes are effectively big enough for a whole army of kaiju to climb through.
With each new release in the MonsterVerse, the franchise grows a little bigger, and so too does its story. This has seen many new characters and ideas incorporated into the franchise, with one of the most substantial developments being the introduction of the Hollow Earth. A series of enormous subterranean cavities, the Hollow Earth is a land where the MonsterVerse’s Titans can grow and evolve with help from the realm’s constant flow of radioactive energy. The franchise offers some vaguely scientific explanations as to how the Hollow Earth is possible, but naturally, these explanations create many plot holes.
Of course, in a franchise populated by gargantuan monsters, the suspension of disbelief is already necessary. But certain elements, such as the supposed time dilation caused by the Hollow Earth’s gravitational anomalies, simply don’t make any sense. Ever since their appearance in the franchise, the rules about how this works seem to constantly change, poking numerous gaping plot holes in the MonsterVerse’s wider story in the process.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters established the existence of many dangerous Titans in the MonsterVerse, hinting at the future expansion of the franchise. The movie briefly introduced several Titans, only to have Godzilla’s alpha roar send them back into hibernation. This in itself makes sense within the logical confines of the franchise, as it’s all explained reasonably well. However, the franchise’s subsequent handling of these Titans is pretty confusing in many ways.
A handful of these Titans have since been seen in tie-in media, but several others are missing in action. Considering Godzilla has established himself as the alpha within the Monsterverse and the Titans retreated to the Hollow Earth, it seems incredibly implausible that they wouldn’t appear in any subsequent stories. In theory, Godzilla has the ability to call on these Titans to help him, but instead chooses to fight his battles alone in subsequent movies. It’s a small but incredibly frustrating plot hole that still has no real explanation.
Strap in, because this plot hole requires a slightly deeper examination of the self-imposed scientific mechanics of the MonsterVerse. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it’s established that all three of Ghidorah’s heads are linked and that none of them alone are anywhere near as powerful or capable as the three combined. However, in Godzilla Vs. Kong, Apex have managed to recover a single Ghidorah skull, which they use to power and control Mechagodzilla. At a glance, it makes sense, but looking a little closer, it all falls apart.
While Ghidorah is one of the strongest monsters in the MonsterVerse, a single skull shouldn’t be anywhere near able to match Godzilla, who took on all three of Ghidorah’s heads at once and won. Moreover, there’s no way that the bone of Ghidorah’s empty skull is capable of generating the mental capacity to power Mechagodzilla, as surely that would have been the job of the brain rather than the skull itself. With no connection to Ghidorah’s other heads, an empty skull should have been largely useless, but somehow, it was turned into a major plot point despite it not making any sense to do so.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
