Let’s all be honest here. The minute we first saw the trailer for Pacific Rim (2013), our minds immediately jumped to the thought of “can you imagine those things fighting Godzilla?“. Godzilla is not called “The King Of The Monsters” for nothing, so it is a perfectly logical connection to make between the gargantuan Jaegers and Kaiju from the Pacific Rim franchise and this titan of cinema. So what if they actually did get the chance to throw down? We apparently came much closer to seeing that than you might think!
Ahead of the release of Godzilla Vs. Kong (2021) both in theaters and on the HBO Max subscription streaming service next month, the hype surrounding the Monsterverse films like Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019) is building up again. But most notably people are also revisiting some other films about giant monsters, bringing the fan-favorite Pacific Rim franchise back to the forefront of the conversation.
Both the Monsterverse films (like Godzilla Vs Kong) and Pacific Rim are produced by Legendary Pictures, meaning that the potential for a crossover is already ripe with possibility. Apparently, it has been a point of discussion among the people actually making the films, or at least it has been for one of them.
Steven DeKnight, who directed the Pacific Rim (2013) sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018), recently took to Twitter to discuss his plans for a crossover had the franchise continued with a third film. DeKnight mentioned that he fully intended for Pacific Rim 3 to open the door for a crossover with the Legendary Pictures Monsterverse so that fans could see Gipsy Avenger take on Godzilla in an epic battle royal that would rock the Monsterverse.
That was actually my long term plan. PR3 was structured to end in a way that married the two universes. https://t.co/n7J3lQ90Xx
— Steven DeKnight (@stevendeknight) February 10, 2021
The ending of Pacific Rim: Uprising set up a plot for a third film that would see the Pan Pacific Defense Corps bring the fight to the Precursors and their Kaiju for a chance to put an end to their imminent threat once and for all. As this battle would see the Jaegers traveling to another dimension through the rift to take on the Precursors, it also would leave the very obvious door open for the Jaegers the slip through into the Monsterverse where the King Of The Monsters would potentially be waiting for them.
Unfortunately for fans who were hoping to see any of this happen, Pacific Rim: Uprising famously tanked at the box office following mixed-to-negative reviews. Any plans for continuing the franchise with a third film seem to have been completely scrapped. The Pacific Rim franchise that kicked off with visionary director Guillermo Del Toro‘s first film in 2013 was effectively over after just two films.
The Pacific Rim franchise is about the get a boost of new life in the form of an all-new Netflix original anime series titled Pacific Rim: The Black in March 2021. Who knows? Maybe if Godzilla Vs. Kong surpasses Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. expectations and Pacific Rim: The Black is well received, we may still have a chance to see these two franchises crossover in the future.
Both the Monsterverse and Pacific Rim live at the same production studio with Legendary Pictures, so as long as Warner Bros, Universal, and Godzilla owners Toho, all decide to play nice with one another, fans could still be in for a kaiju sized treat. DeKnight has mentioned that getting these studios to all collaborate on one project would almost certainly be an issue that the project would have to overcome to materialize.
At the end of the day, after the drastically different take on the Pacific Rim franchise that Steven DeKnight gave us in the often maligned Pacific Rim: Uprising, maybe it is for the best that we don’t see him handling such a big franchise crossover. While we could absolutely see the world of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim (2013), the world we were reintroduced to in Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) feels like a polar opposite to the weighted real-world feel of the first film and the Monsterverse. Hopefully, we will eventually see Pacific Rim return to the big screen in a third live-action film, and who knows, maybe even a crossover with Godzilla.
Legendary Pictures Godzilla Vs. Kong is set to release on March 31, 2021. As with all of Warner Bros’ 2021 film slate, the movie will be released on the HBO Max subscription streaming service at no additional cost for subscribers on the same day it begins its theatrical release. The film comes from director Adam Wingard (You’re Next) and sees the return of Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Kyle Chandler (Super 8), and Zhang Ziyi (The Cloverfield Paradox) from Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. These few returning Monsterverse actors are joined by several new faces including Alexander Skarsgard (The Stand), Rebecca Hall (Iron Man 3), Brian Tyree Henry (Joker), Shun Oguri (Harlock: Space Pirate), Eiza Gonzalez (Alita: Battle Angel), Julian DeDennison (Deadpool 2), Lance Reddick (John Wick), and Demian Bichir (Alien: Covenant).
You can check out a trailer for the film in the meantime, or for even more fun the trailer remade entirely with Legos!
Would you still want to see Pacific Rim crossover with the Monsterverse? What other heavy hitters would you want to see join the fight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more Kaiju-sized updates!
