Director Adam Wingard explains the reasons for a surprise Titan’s Monsterverse return during the Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s finale.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard is opening up about Mothra’s return in the finale. Mothra first appeared on-screen in Toho’s Mothra and met Godzilla in 1964’s aptly-named Mothra vs. Godzilla. Her first Monsterverse appearance came in 2019 in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, though she was mentioned in Kong: Skull Island in 2017. She proved herself to be a strong ally for Godzilla and remained loyal even against the might of King Ghidorah. In The New Empire, she joins Godzilla and Kong in the fight against the Skar King.

Mothra’s return for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire‘s ending was a massive surprise, and Wingard is ready to explain every detail of the encounter. In an interview with Den of Geek, Wingard explained the thrill of seeing Mothra return and the narrative weight of her inclusion. Wingard considers Mothra the most respectable monster in the world, and that is why her return worked so well. Check out his full explanation below:

There’s a moment in the film where you’ve got Godzilla, Kong, and Mothra in front of the Sphinx, and sometimes when I just looked at it in post, I’d be like, ‘I can’t believe we’ve filled the frame with these three characters… There’s some shots that are like dream shots for a fan of especially Shōwa films where you can’t believe that in one frame you have all of this going on here.

The MonsterVerse really is going in some wild and fun directions. The main villain of this film is really a kind of devilish character. Like an alternate title for the film could be ‘Kong Goes to Hell.’ So if Kong’s going to hell and he’s finding these apes toiling away down there under the devil, who’s the Scar King, then Mothra’s really this very angelic spirit. And that’s the way I approached her as a character, very ethereal.

She’s a pure vessel within the MonsterVerse and she’s like the great negotiator of the monsters. Everybody respects Mothra. She’s the one monster that all the monsters I think will let do her thing, and it’s the only monster I think that Godzilla truly respects. He respects her opinion. So Mothra says, ‘Listen, we need your help,’ Godzilla’s gonna listen. Anything I say right now wouldn’t necessarily be canon, so I don’t want to necessarily tell people what she is. I have my own thoughts of what this version of Mothra is, but I think it’ll be exciting to kind of let that unfold because I’m sure we’ll explore more.

Mothra’s Essential Role In The Monsterverse

Mothra Is The Only Monster Godzilla Respects

Since her creation, Mothra has been an essential character in the world of the Titans. While her first encounter with Godzilla in Mothra vs. Godzilla inevitably involved a fight, the Monsterverse version of the character has been a loyal ally for Godzilla. Even when King Ghidorah was hoping to supplant Godzilla in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, she remained at his side and fought valiantly against the other Titan. In the process, Mothra was killed, proving that Titans can be loyal enough to sacrifice themselves for a good cause.

Because of her sacrifice, Godzilla, the true King of the Monsters, has endless respect for Mothra. In her Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire return, she only enhanced that respect by immediately joining the fight against Shimo and the Skar King. Her presence is all that keeps Godzilla from trying to kill Kong, as she possesses enough influence to convince him to battle these new enemies. Had Mothra not appeared, the Iwi prophecy stated that Godzilla would never have agreed to join forces with Kong.

Mothra’s function within the Monsterverse is essentially to serve as an ally and a voice of reason for Godzilla. Because so much of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire focuses on Kong’s growth and development, Mothra’s return allows some of the movie’s focus to return to Godzilla’s side of the Monsterverse. The Great Apes may be compelling, but Mothra is a Titan and can stand beside Godzilla with pride. Without her presence, Kong never could have recruited Godzilla, and the entire world would have been frozen by Shimo’s power.