Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ After-Credits Scene Explained

Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ after-credits scene sets up the return of Ghidorah, teasing even more threats to Gojira than just King Kong. The giant atomic lizard will return in next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong, but his movie future now appears to stretch beyond that grudge match.

The monster sequel ends with Godzilla having defeated the alien three-headed dragon Ghidorah in battle and emerge as the true King of the Monsters, now commanding Rodan and a host of new Titans, including a giant arachnid, a bulky MUTO and trunk-less mammoth. He’s truly asserted his dominance and now has an army to rebalance to world (hopefully for good).

But this victory may be short-lived. Two opposing human organizations want to control the Titans in different forms, there’s a giant ape on Skull Island who may have a grudge to settle and, as the Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ after-credits scene hints, Ghidorah himself may return. Here’s what the stinger means for the future of the MonsterVerse.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ After-Credits Scene: Jonah Alan Buys Ghidorah’s Other Head

Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ post-credits scene returns to Isla de Mara, the site of Rodan’s emergence earlier in the film. A fisherman leads a group of people – later revealed to be led by Charles Dance’s Jonah Alan, who escaped Boston before the big kaiju fight – down a hallway, stating that they’re in a “brave new world” following the “rise of the King.” He also reveals that, following the Oxygen Destroyer’s deployment by the US military in a bid to kill Godzilla and Ghidorah, they can’t fish in the sea anymore (as shown earlier, all marine life was killed). And, so, they’ve turned to more illicit methods of making money.

The fisherman takes Alan and his crew into a large room that contains one of Ghidorah’s heads – the one Godzilla tore off during their fight just off the coast – which Dance menacing states, “we’ll take it.“

Ghidorah Will Return – But Man-Made?

The obvious implication here is that, while King Ghidorah may have been killed in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he’s not gone for good. Jonah Alan will, in some form, attempt to bring the three-headed dragon back to life, presumably under his own control.

The most immediate way for this to happen would be for Ghidorah’s fourth head to regenerate a new body, a reverse of how the three-headed monster regrew a replacement for it. The logic of that – with any removal of a head creating a whole new monster – would be crazy, but certainly fits in the logic of the MonsterVerse.

However, going back to the Toho films, there’s another possibility. In 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah the original Ghidorah was augmented with mechanical middle head, wings and body to become Mecha-King Ghidorah, created to protect Japan from a rampaging Godzilla. This technology was the first iteration of what would become the more well-remembered Mechagodzilla.

I would make sense for this to be where the MonsterVerse will head next: human-created and controlled Titans, with Ghidorah the first test case. However, that doesn’t mean we’re talking giant robots as in the Japanese films. When Monarch learned Jonah Alan was heading to Site 32 in Antarctica, they initially assumed he was going for Monster Zero samples, not to awaken creature, suggesting the eco-terrorists methods before he became part of Emma Russell’s awakening plot. Could that be what he’s really buying here: not Ghidorah’s head as much as the alien DNA it contains, with an eye to genetically recreating the creature? This bio-engineered, manmade monster would certainly bring a new edge to Godzilla’s commentary on the ills of humanity’s weapons.

Whether mechanical or genetic, though, the obvious story direction would be one of control. Jonah Alan saw his attempts to usher in a new world order under his command collapse as the Titans dominance overpowered his. If a new Ghidorah is his attempt to rebalance the scales – either by controlling the Titans, killing Godzilla, or both – there’d be delicious irony in the creation turning on the creator.

Is King Of The Monsters’ After-Credits Scene Teasing Godzilla vs. Kong Or Godzilla 3?

Even if this is where the MonsterVerse is going, it’s still not immediately clear what story Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ after-credits scene is setting up. The next – only thus far only confirmed – MonsterVerse movie is next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong from director Adam Wingard. However, as that movie will surely be more directly focused on the titular bout, a whole new side-story with Ghidorah – another threatening alpha – could be overkill.

Instead, it would seem this is looking further ahead and setting up Godzilla 3. The manmade terror would be suitable escalation for the mainline series, while also providing a way for Legendary to possibly top the Kings of Monsters vs. Apes.

Currently, though, there are no official Godzilla 3 plans. In fact, after Godzilla vs. Kong, no MonsterVerse movies have been dated. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t projects in development. Legendary CEO Joshua Grode has said there are discussions about the franchise’s future, and if Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a box office success, making a third solo outing would be a no brainer.

King Of The Monsters’ Credits Do Set Up Godzilla vs. Kong

Although Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ post-credits scene is focused away from Skull Island and its giant ape ruler, that doesn’t mean the films’ ending is devoid of next year’s monster mash. The initial closing credits to Godzilla 2 tell the story following the final fight, detailing how the return of Titans does lead to a reversal of some of humanity’s damage to the Earth and Monarch opening up about the creatures.

However, as it goes on, the story becomes more targeted. There’s mention of seismic disturbance in Skull Island and Titans being drawn there, with one headline positing “what is a King to a God?” All of this points towards a conflict between Kong and Godzilla, with both attempting to assert alpha dominance over the many other Titans. This status quo was teased by Godzilla vs. Kong‘s synopsis, and will be where the MonsterVerse picks up next year.

About The Author

Alex Leadbeater
(1121 Articles Published)

Screen Rant’s Managing Editor, Alex Leadbeater has been covering film online since 2012 and been a permanent fixture of SR since 2016. Based in London, he oversees a global news & features team based in NY, LA and beyond. You may have also seen/heard him on the Total Geekall podcast, unaffiliated YouTube channels, BBC Radio and CBC News.

Growing up in the English countryside on a mixture of Star Wars, The Simpsons and Aardman, Alex is a lifelong movie obsessive. Despite a brief jaunt in Mathematics at Durham University, film writing was always his calling. He’s covered a wide range of movies and TV shows – from digging out obscure MCU Easter eggs to diving deep into deeper meanings of arthouse fare – and has covered a litany of set visits, junkets and film festivals. He once asked Tom Cruise about his supposedly fake-butt in Valkyrie (he swore it was all real).

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