Joe Morton Connects Godzilla: King of the Monsters to Kong: Skull Island

Joe Morton has as a small role in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters but here’s how his character also connects to Kong: Skull Island. Godzilla made his debut in the haunting 1954 movie of the same name and has since become an iconic monster. The Japanese Godzilla franchise has been running for over 60 years, but Godzilla has had mixed luck when it comes to American blockbusters.

The first attempt to produce an American version was Godzilla: King Of The MonstersIn 3D back in 1983, where Fred Dekker (The Predator) penned a draft set in San Francisco for director Steve Miner; the project was canceled when every major studio passed. Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) ultimately helmed the 1998 Godzilla and while the movie turned a profit, it received universally terrible reviews and failed to launch a franchise. The depiction of the title creature was also heavily criticized, with Godzilla owners Toho later dubbing Emmerich’s version Zilla, since there was nothing godly about him.

Thankfully, Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla did a much better job bringing the monster to life and its success paved the way for Legendary’s shared MonsterVerse. This also includes 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, which pits Godzilla against other monsters like Rodan and King Ghidorah. Prior to the movie’s release, it was revealed a character from Kong would return to tie the two movies together, which turned out to be Houston Brooks, played by Terminator 2: Judgement Day co-star Joe Morton.

Brooks was introduced in Kong: Skull Island, where he was played by Corey Hawkins (24: Legacy). Brooks worked for Monarch, the government agency charged with discovering and researching monsters. Brooks is part of an expedition to the newly-discovered Skull Island, where Kong attacks and destroys the helicopters that invade his home. Brooks teams up with other survivors including James Conrad, played by Tom Hiddleston (Avengers: Endgame) and San Lin (Jing Tian). This expedition proves beyond a doubt that monsters do exist and the island is essentially left alone in the decades that follow.

Brooks and Lin subsequently got married and had a son named Aaron Brooks, who also joins Monarch. The Skull Island: The Birth Of Kong graphic novel reveals Houston’s son disappeared in another secret Skull Island expedition and is assumed dead alongside the rest of his team, until Brooks receives a recorder confirming Aaron survived and over the course of many years charted the many changes to the Island and Kong. Aaron remained on the island to help the natives, which could be one plot thread that’s explored in 2020’s Godzilla Vs Kong.

Unfortunately, Joe Morton’s older Houston Brooks doesn’t get much to do in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. He’s present when Mothra sheds her cocoon in the third act but outside of this one sequence, he’s absent from the rest of the story. While there’s no sign of the character appearing in Godzilla Vs Kong yet, Brooks will undoubtedly reappear into a future MonsterVerse adventure.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3485 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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