Varan's popularity and Gtthm

[miguelnuva]

GTTHM united Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan who had started in their own solo films before coming together for Ghidorah's debut. I have often wondered though why Varan wasn't included in this film as he was the only other monster to have a solo film at this time.

Was Varan just not as popular , was the suit damaged or was their any other reasons he missed the film?

[TitanoGoji16]

Huh. I never really thought about how Varan was the only "major" kaiju star to not be in Ghidrah.

[eabaker]

Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra were all very successful movies, in Japan and internationally. Varan was a footnote by comparison.

[KaijuCanuck]

I know that the American version of Varan was essentially re-edited into a crappy TV movie, but I’m not sure about how popular it was in Japan. Interesting question!

[MaxRebo320]

I know that the American version of Varan was essentially re-edited into a crappy TV movie

It wasn't re-edited into an American TV movie, it was originally going to be an American TV movie, before changing their minds and releasing it theatrically (Later, it would be re-edited into a crappy theatrical American movie). So that right there would indicate they never put much care into Varan, and while I'm not sure of its exact numbers, I don't think it was ever the big hit Godzilla, Rodan or Mothra were. So I doubt including Varan was ever even on their mind.

[JAGzilla]

While his relative lack of success was presumably the biggest factor, there are a few other things that may have held him back. First and foremost, bringing him into the final battle would've meant using a lot more wires to move his flying prop around, and I'm sure Ghidorah and Rodan were already complicated enough. Also, he would kind of needlessly clutter the story; they already had an ambitious thing going with Earth's two most destructive kaiju butting heads, Mothra coming in to play peacemaker, and then Ghidorah as the threat that brings them together. I don't see how Varan could've added anything important there, and he'd have taken screentime and budget away from the others. Then there's the fact that he doesn't bring anything new to the table in terms of abilities: they already had Godzilla to do the T&C brawling, and Rodan to fly. Varan would've been redundant.

[ThunderScore]

I know that the American version of Varan was essentially re-edited into a crappy TV movie

It wasn't re-edited into an American TV movie, it was originally going to be an American TV movie, before changing their minds and releasing it theatrically (Later, it would be re-edited into a crappy theatrical American movie). So that right there would indicate they never put much care into Varan, and while I'm not sure of its exact numbers, I don't think it was ever the big hit Godzilla, Rodan or Mothra were. So I doubt including Varan was ever even on their mind.

I think VARAN THE UNBELIEVABELE was actually pretty enjoyable.

[Ivo-goji]

GTTHM wasn't DAM, the intent was never to throw in a huge number of kaiju. It was meant to build on some of the dynamic they'd established in Mothra vs Godzilla, as it's mainly a sequel to that movie. DAM had a ton of kaiju like Varan and Anguirus because it was supposed to be a grand finale that tributed all their previous sci fi movies. GTTHM wasn't made under that logic.

[Pkmatrix]

I know that the American version of Varan was essentially re-edited into a crappy TV movie

It wasn't re-edited into an American TV movie, it was originally going to be an American TV movie, before changing their minds and releasing it theatrically (Later, it would be re-edited into a crappy theatrical American movie). So that right there would indicate they never put much care into Varan, and while I'm not sure of its exact numbers, I don't think it was ever the big hit Godzilla, Rodan or Mothra were. So I doubt including Varan was ever even on their mind.

And even calling it "re-edited" is being generous - they borrowed the title and some stock footage from Giant Monster Varan to make an entirely new movie. Less than half of Varan the Unbelievable uses footage from Giant Monster Varan (about 30 minutes out of a 70 minute runtime) and a huge chunk of that 30 minutes is just playing the same handful of shots of the military firing on Varan over and over to pad it out. It doesn't even have the same cast!

But, yeah, I've read before that Giant Monster Varan didn't do particularly well at the time so when it came time to do GTTHM I don't think he was ever really considered.

[ThunderScore]

I prefer this -

[edgaguirus]

Varan has never had the popularity of the big kaiju. Varan's film is mediocre, while better films and more popular kaiju have over shadowed him. I doubt Varan will ever escape that shadow.