Batman vs Godzilla Could’ve Happened: Here’s Toho’s Cancelled Story

In the 1960s, Toho considered developing a crossover movie that would have pitted Godzilla against Batman. Obviously, this lop-sided showdown between the King of the Monsters and the Caped Crusader never saw the light of the day.

After two movies in the mid-1950s, Godzilla disappeared for quite a while, and didn’t return to the big screen for another seven years. He re-emerged for the 1962 crossover movie, King Kong vs. Godzilla, a film which famously pitted him against the American pop culture icon. The success of King Kong vs. Godzilla led to a string of Godzilla sequels, with the next film in the franchise being Mothra vs. Godzilla in 1964. In the same year, Toho redefined Godzilla with a more comedic tone and a heroic direction for the character with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. Numerous Godzilla movies were released for the next several years. The Godzilla franchise came to a temporary halt after 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla.

Shinichi Sekizawa, the writer who penned the script for many of Godzilla’s most famous films (Mothra vs. Godzilla, King Kong vs. Godzilla, etc.) submitted a drift for another Godzilla film in late 1965, just a few months before the premiere of the 1966 Batman TV series. Sekizawa’s idea was for Godzilla to face off against Batman. The plan was for Toho to try to repeat the success of King Kong vs. Godzilla by coming up with another crossover film. Batman vs. Godzilla would have featured at least two key Batman characters, Robin and Commissioner Gordon, and possibly more. Godzilla would have been mind-controlled, which could mean that a Batman villain might have been the film’s main antagonist. A weather-controlling machine was also thrown into the mix.

How would Batman vs. Godzilla actually work? Godzilla’s size would of course be the movie’s biggest problem. Sekizawa’s drafts involved Batman deploying multiple vehicles against Godzilla, including the Batmobile, the Batcopter, and more. No matter what Batman threw at Godzilla, it’s hard to imagine it being enough.

Ultimately, the movie never happened, and it never even went far enough to get a complete script. Details on how and why it was scrapped are sparse. It’s not clear if the  It’s also not known if DC Comics was involved in any way, or if Toho reached out to them. Some of Sekizawa’s ideas for Batman vs. Godzilla did end up being recycled for another Godzilla movie, however. The weather machine was worked in to 1967’s Son of Godzilla, but the battle between Godzilla and Batman was — perhaps thankfully — left behind.

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