Guess who’s back, back again? Zilla’s back, tell a friend. In the wake of the unexpected box office success (and Oscar win) for the excellentGodzilla Minus One, everybody’s favorite giant lizard returns this weekend to continue his recent pop culture dominance. This time, he’s reteaming with his sometimes best bud and sometimes arch-enemy King Kong inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which is utterly contagious in its absurdity, enough to function as a monster movie equivalent to an ’80s prog metal album.
This time, our dynamic duo faces off against the Skar King, a tyrannical ape somehow even bigger than Kong and with an entire army at his disposal. So, with titans about to clash once again this weekend, we’re breaking down the bonkers wild ending ofGodzilla x Kong: The New Empireand a somewhat surprising feature—the absence of any post-credits scene whatsoever.
In hindsight, it’s not the biggest shock thatThe New Empiredoesn’t have apost-credits scene; its 2021 predecessor,Godzilla vs. Kong, didn’t have one either and broke with the prior MonsterVerse tradition. Admittedly, since post-credits scenes are virtually expected for major blockbusters nowadays, it’s a bit of a breath of fresh air to see a tentpole focused primarily on telling a self-contained story without setting up any sequels.
Who Comes Out on Top in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire?
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
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For most of the film, Kong, now established as the guardian of Hollow Earth, finds it lonely at the top. However, upon finding a sinkhole near his territory, he ventures deeper into Hollow Earth and discovers he’s not the last of his kind – the bad news is they’re a malevolent group of apes led bythe villainous Skar King. A mid-film exposition dump reveals that the Titans and humans once lived in harmony but that the hierarchy of power shifted when the Skar King declared war on Godzilla in an attempt to dominate the surface world. Godzilla ultimately emerges victorious, trapping the King and his army deep within Hollow Earth.
Thanks to Kong’s discovery, the Skar King finally has the means to return to the surface and conquer it. Having discovered an ice-powered Titan, Shimo, during his exile, the King learned how to mind control it with the help of a mystical crystal. Upon their first meeting, Kong proves no match for the Skar King. Sensing the fate of the planet is imminent, the Iwi tribe, an ancient civilization living inside Hollow Earth, contacts Godzilla for help, and our beloved lizard king begins absorbing radiation from Titans on the surface to strengthen himself forthe coming battle.
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Briefly putting aside their differences,Kong and Godzillaagree to form an alliance, assisted by a reborn Mothra. The battle takes Godzilla, Kong, the Skar King, and Shimo to Rio de Janeiro, where Shimo uses her powers to freeze the ocean and start inducing a second ice age. As the civilians clear out so the monsters can lay their city to waste, the clash stays at a stalemate for a long while until Suko, a young mini ape from the Skar King’s tribe, shows up. Having formed a friendship with Kong, Suko turns on his master, shattering his crystal and freeing Shimo from his control.
Understandably unhappy at having been mind-controlled for so long, Shimo freezes the Skar King frozen solid so that Kong can deliver the final blow and shatter him to pieces. With the war finally won, Godzilla resumes his duty as the surface world’s guardian, while Kong returns to Hollow Earth, now head of the Skar King’s tribe and a significantly more benevolent leader. With Suko and Shimo by his side, Kong finally has the companionship he’s long desired. The film ends, and no post-credits scene follows.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Doesn’t Have a Post-Credits Scene
But why did director Adam Wingard once again break from cinematic universe tradition and not include a post-credits scene? Like with its predecessor, the first and most obvious reason is that a sequel has yet to be greenlit, and the creative team is waiting to see howThe New Empireperforms before concludingtheir planned trilogy. As modern audiences know, few things are more disappointing than having sequels teased that never come to fruition. On top of that, considering how omnipresent post-credits scenes are today, getting a completely self-contained installment is arguably a breath of fresh air.
That said,The New Empirestill gives a few vague hints at where a potential third installment could go. The alliance between Godzilla and Kong remains somewhat fragile, and anyone’s breach into the other’s territory could lead to them duking it out again. Considering Kong now has an entire army of apes at his disposal, as well as a significant ally in a Titan to rival Godzilla in power, it’s easy to imagineKong could very well emerge victorious(much like he did in their first face-off) if they did eventually battle again. Or, if another even worse threat arises, it’s more apparent than ever that their combined might would be more than enough to stand a fighting chance.
The deeper meaning ofGodzilla x Kong: The New Empireis mostly on the surface, but the biggest point the ending indicates is that Kong has finally come into his own as a leader. While he can be vicious on the battlefield and often prone to clashing with Kong, he’s ultimately benevolent and treats his friends with respect.
The Skar King functions as an evil counterpart to Kong, as illustrated by how he regularly exploits and subjugates his own kind to do his bidding. In contrast to Kong’s frenemy relationship with Godzilla, Skar uses Shimo entirely for his own gain at the cost of her individuality. The young Suko, who ultimately rejects his leader in favor of the more paternal Kong, demonstrates the film’s clearest expression of this idea.Godzilla x Kong: The New Empireis now available in theaters.
