Should future Godzilla media explore the multiverse?

[LegendZilla]

Hello everyone, LegendZilla here with another thread. At least from what I know, the brand-new Singular Point anime series does involve some interdimensional-related subject matter in its storyline. That being said, do any of you think that the whole multiverse-angle should be explored again in future Godzilla media?

I think it only makes sense for such a franchise with a lengthy history, and doing so has vast storytelling potential. Many long-running franchises in recent history have done such. You could even argue that the Godzilla franchise itself has tackled the idea as far back as Godzilla Vs Megaguirus in 2000. It would be a good way to re-visit past continuities and even see different incarnations of Godzilla either team up with and/or fight against each other. Do you people have any ideas for storylines that could handle the concept of a multiverse? Just one idea I have involves the GMK timeline (regardless of how I feel about the film itself) crossing paths with that of the Heisei. Here's how it goes :

After the Lost World War II souls successfully regenerate Godzilla following the events of GMK, he manages to break free from their control much to their shock. Because of this, they decide to search for other potential hosts to possess to get revenge. Since they're souls, chances are they have the ability to transcend realties and thus they venture to another parallel universe, namely the Heisei universe.

However, instead of possessing said universe's Godzilla, they find traces of Destoroyah's essence in the Tokyo Bay area. In a heartbeat they get to work with reviving said kaiju, who proves to be an even more efficient tool for their vengeance. However, unlike with Godzilla, Destoroyah's own collective mind just so happens to override the power of the WWII souls, which he acquires for his own. This gives Destoroyah the power to not only kill every living thing, but consume the souls of his victims and grow all the more powerful. The results are absolutely catastrophic...

Meanwhile, the GMK universe's own revived Godzilla who got left behind still has the souls of Ghidorah, Mothra and Baragon trapped inside of him, which causes him great pain, terror and confusion. Because of this he lashes out, but not out of vengeance as before, but like how any creature in his place would given the circumstances. Soon enough, other realities within the Godzilla multiverse potentially get involved into the scenario.

Anyways, that's my pitch for a potential multiverse-related storyline that a future film, comic, novel or any medium could explore. I would like to know if you would care to critique some of my ideas. Do you have any of your own? If so, I would love to hear them. Let your imagination run free.

LegendZilla signing out.

[LSD Jellyfish]

No, absolutely not. I wrote why SP works well at hinting at that, without actually delving or showing it.

[Thatguy4683]

I mean it could work, if done correctly and carefully, like you said it can be great for story telling, but it’s a risk and easy to fuck it up, I say take the risk but you need to know what you’re doing first too

[LegendZilla]

No, absolutely not. I wrote why SP works well at hinting at that, without actually delving or showing it.

I can see why you'd want SP as a standalone entity to remain that way, but why would it be inherently bad if Toho tried it again with a separate project? With all due respect, are you just not a fan of the very idea of delving into parallel universes?

[LSD Jellyfish]

Other than to satisfy fans, and solve a problem that doesn't exist (continuity issues), exploring multi-verse stuff doesn't do much for the internal logic of a series. Multi-verse type thinking comes out of a perceived problem wherein continuity issues are treated as bigger problems than storytelling and characters.

Despite a lot of naysayers, Godzilla continuities, films and other such things are very easy to understand, in the context of their own film/product, especially if viewed as they are coming out. Unlike a lot of other series (Ultraman in Japan, and any comic type stuff in America) everything is real easy to understand. Having a multi-verse to explain "hey look, things vary depending on the universe's directors/writers interpretation" does nothing for the individual process than satisfy the wrong types of fans. You'll notice that I crossed out the directors/writers, and that's because it's essentially the same thing. All the Godzilla fans know that all the series take place in different continuities and it doesn't affect anyones enjoyment of them.

In other words, have a line or two about multiple realities, continuities etc. Have Easter Eggs that hint at such things. But never, ever, start making media just to fix perceived problems that do not exist.

Leave that stuff to comics, and other things. Godzilla Oblivion already sort of does this.

[Rando Yaguchi]

Despite a lot of naysayers, Godzilla continuities, films and other such things are very easy to understand, in the context of their own film/product, especially if viewed as they are coming out. Unlike a lot of other series (Ultraman in Japan, and any comic type stuff in America) everything is real easy to understand. Having a multi-verse to explain "hey look, things vary depending on the universe's directors/writers interpretation" does nothing for the individual process than satisfy the wrong types of fans. You'll notice that I crossed out the directors/writers, and that's because it's essentially the same thing. All the Godzilla fans know that all the series take place in different continuities and it doesn't affect anyones enjoyment of them.

Exactly. It seems like this new multi-verse trend is primarily meant to cater to people's nostalgia. Unless there's a great story idea behind it, it'll just muddy the waters.

[JessIAm]

In an interview, the team at Singular Point mentioned Toho told them to put Godzilla in their anime, but didn't specify anything more than that. The freedom of being able to do whatever they wanted is what makes Singular Point so good, IMO. They aren't tied to continuity with anything other than the Toho requirements for Godzilla itself.

I think including the multiverse adds a lot of burden to future media if added to all Godzilla media. By not having all Godzilla media tied to the multiverse, you can get fresh takes like Singular Point.

I guess I'm saying the best thing for future media would be a balance - some new things in the multiverse, some new things with minimal ties to existing media.

[Cryptid_Liker]

A comic about the Godzilla multiverse would be awesome.

[eabaker]

As with almost anything like this, is comes down to the question of whether someone has a story they want to tell that requires this. I think LSD summed up pretty well all the wrong reasons for doing it. But if there is an engaging story to tell, if someone really has an idea of how 70s Godzilla interacting with Heisei Godzilla interacting with GINO interacting with KiryuGoji could make something interesting and (very importantly) accessible, then why not?

[Gigantis]

Ehhh let's not. Aside from maybe a brief nod like, maybe a portal to another dimension shows up and it shows a Godzilla who resembles a past incarnation before it closes (or something like that) i'd prefer if all Godzilla continuities stayed in their own continuities. We don't need more than one Godzilla in the same movie.

[LegendZilla]

As with almost anything like this, is comes down to the question of whether someone has a story they want to tell that requires this. I think LSD summed up pretty well all the wrong reasons for doing it. But if there is an engaging story to tell, if someone really has an idea of how 70s Godzilla interacting with Heisei Godzilla interacting with GINO interacting with KiryuGoji could make something interesting and (very importantly) accessible, then why not?

You summed up as to why my idea could work. People around here are just a little too anxious over a haphazard execution. Like you said, if anyone can muster up an objectively good story revolving around inter-dimensional travel, then everything’s fine. If the Godzilla franchise can’t be allowed to do so, then none can.

[Gigantis]

Like you said, if anyone can muster up an objectively good story revolving around inter-dimensional travel, then everything’s fine. If the Godzilla franchise can’t be allowed to do so, then none can.

Yeah but:

1. How do we decide what's an objectively good inter-dimension story?
2. Saying that no franchise can't be allowed to do this just because Godzilla can't is dumb because it's already happen multiple times.. and in my opinion, none of them were too good

[eabaker]

1. How do we decide what's an objectively good inter-dimension story?

There's no way to get universal agreement on an "objectively" good story. The basic question is this: Is there a story concept that the filmmakers are passional about which requires the involvement of a multiverse; or is a story being contrived in order to justify the use of a multiverse. If it's the former, then that's as "objectively" good a reason as can be; if it's the latter, then it's probably not a good idea.

[LegendZilla]

Like you said, if anyone can muster up an objectively good story revolving around inter-dimensional travel, then everything’s fine. If the Godzilla franchise can’t be allowed to do so, then none can.

Yeah but:

1. How do we decide what's an objectively good inter-dimension story?
2. Saying that no franchise can't be allowed to do this just because Godzilla can't is dumb because it's already happen multiple times.. and in my opinion, none of them were too good

What storytelling element hasn't been done to death?

[Gigantis]

What storytelling element hasn't been done to death?

That was not the point i was trying to make. I was saying that despite these types of things happening before, they're almost ridiculously hard to pull off and i don't think anyone working on the G-Franchise at the moment can make it work.

[LegendZilla]

What storytelling element hasn't been done to death?

That was not the point i was trying to make. I was saying that despite these types of things happening before, they're almost ridiculously hard to pull off and i don't think anyone working on the G-Franchise at the moment can make it work.

Like Eabaker said, It all depends on execution. Please stop acting like the idea itself is inherently bad. Imagine if both SMK and Shin didn't exist and someone around here suggested that there should be a Godzilla movies where he is a vessel for pissed off souls or capable of shooting lasers from his tail, how would you react then? Despite those ideas being far-fetched sounding on paper, most of you completely gobbled it up.

Why you may ask? Because they were ideas that proved compatible for the respective stories the filmmakers wanted to tell and (at least for the majority of fans) it worked out for you. Literally any idea can work for any story if whoever tells it is passionate about it and wants to tell one that involves it. So long as it's not tacked on at the last minute, or designed to pander to a certain crowd.

The problem is that some ideas are more difficult to pull of properly than others and I realize that. However, that does not neccesarly mean that it's impossible.

[Gigantis]

Please stop acting like the idea itself is inherently bad.

I never said it was an inherently bad concept, and i'm sure under the right direction it could prove to be something good, but trying to find out a logical way for every Godzilla incarnation to interact and making sure all of them get time to shine is a much harder concept to pull off than changing Godzilla's origin story or giving him new powers.

[ShinGojira14]

Skreeonk yes. I would be 100% down for a Toho multiverse-related storyline.

[LegendZilla]

Frankly I am rather bewildered as to how almost everyone is unanimously skeptical, if not outright opposed to the franchise we love following others in exploring the whole multiverse angle. I have been doing some thinking and I believe I may've found out why you feel Godzilla does not lend itself as effectively as let's say Marvel or DC. It has to do with the nature of kaiju as characters in contrast to Superheroes.

Unlike the latter, Kaiju are not people, but rather animals. That means they can't talk or have enough relatable chemistry with one another to make for a compelling story. Because of this any theoretical encounter between any given kaiju with their interdimensional counterpart(s) will just be the same as virtually every other in the genre's history and not add anything new to the table. If this is not the case, then the odds are that most of you are just tired of the whole multiverse-trend in modern media. If so, I can understand.

[Gigantis]

That means they can't talk or have relatable chemistry with one another to provide for a compelling story to work.

Well there's this too. It's easy to imagine plenty of different versions of Spider-Man and Batman meeting up and talking with each other, but when it comes to kaiju, body language can still only take you so far in a situation like this. And again, balancing all of them at once is a problem.