TheMonsterVerseis an ongoing cinematic universe that’s had decent longevity by cinematic universe standards at least.It’s an ongoing series that began in 2014, comprising five movies, an animated series, and a live-action series as of 2024. Its strength lies in the fact that the two Titans (literally called as such within the series) headlining the entire thing areKing KongandGodzilla, the former originating in 1933 and the latter having his first movie - of almost 40 - in 1954.
What follows is an attempt to highlight the best monsters (or Titans) to have appeared in theMonsterVerseso far, be they heroic, villainous, or more comparable to forces of nature. Even with just seven films/shows to choose from, there are still plenty of neatly designed, memorable, and creative monsters that don’t make the cut. The following is really the best of the best, starting with the very good and ending with the legendary.
10The Ion Dragon
First appearance: ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ (2023-2024)
Not just content with sticking to the world of film duringthe 21st century, the character of Godzillaalso made his way into the television landscape, being the central monster inMonarch: Legacy of Monsters. Of course, Godzilla’s name isn’t in the title, tipping viewers off ahead of time that there’s going to be a focus on humans/other monsters more so than the King of the Monsters, but he’s at least he’s there when needed.
Perhaps his most memorable rival is the Ion Dragon, a Titan that debuts inMonarch: Legacy of Monsters, but was vaguely referenced in dialogue back in 2017’sKong: Skull Island. Befitting its name, it’s a large and intimidating dragon-like creature that’s been around for who knows how many years. Still, it didn’t quite have the durability to put up with an extended fight with Godzilla, being defeated in the final episode, thoughearning points for at least doing a little damage to the most powerful of all the Titans, and getting to have a showdown with him in the finale.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Watch on Apple TV+
9The Skar King
First appearance: ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ (2024)
Look,the Skar King is cool and all, and isinstrumental to many of the best scenesin 2024’sGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but he might not be quite as strong or intimidating as some of the promotional material tried to suggest. He’s not as muscular as Kong, but he at least makes up for that with his agility when the two Titans clash, and he does also have the far bigger and more destructive Shimo under his control.
Speaking of Shimo, that Titan gets an honorable mention for being a foe Godzilla can tackle inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, while the Skar King is mostly there to be someone who can confront and challenge Kong. He’s decently powerful and does have a striking design, while also being noteworthy for beingthe first ape-like creature Kong’s foughtin a live-action movie.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Watch in theaters
8Mechagodzilla
First appearance: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ (2021)
Before anyone gets up in arms about Mechagodzilla being placed relatively low here, this is only taking into account Mechagodzilla’s depiction within theMonsterVerse. Outside theMonsterVerse,Mechagodzilla is an undeniably iconic Godzilla enemy, and one who’s appeared numerous times over many decades, first getting introduced late in the Showa era and then appearing in both the Heisei and Millennium eras.
Just like before, Mechagodzilla in theMonsterVerseis more or less Godzilla, but a robot, and equipped with some extra abilities plus a whole other level of durability on account of the whole being a machine thing. And though theMonsterVerse’sMechagodzilla isn’t quite as cool as earlier iterations, it does still put up a decent fight against Godzilla and Kong in 2021’sGodzilla vs. Kong, and its origin story – including a surprising link to King Ghidorah – is admittedly neat.
Godzilla vs. Kong
Watch on Max
7The MUTOs
First appearance: ‘Godzilla’ (2014)
Honestly,the MUTOs deserve more love overall, as they’re probably the best of the Titans originally created for theMonsterVersethat Godzilla has fought so far. The name MUTO stands for “Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism,” with a pair of them clashing with Godzilla in the memorable climax of 2014’sGodzilla, and a third seen at one point during that film’s 2019 sequel,Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Unlike a good many monsters/Titans/kaiju, it’s hard to single out just one species to compare the MUTOs to, and it’s the fact they look so alien and unique that makes them great original monsters. They look a little like insects, bats, larger mammals, and perhaps a little like reptiles/dinosaurs too, all at once, and they prove capable of putting up a strong fight against Godzilla, on top of their species havinga complicated and violent history with Godzilla’s species.
6The Skullcrawlers
First appearance: ‘Kong: Skull Island’ (2017)
As far as originalMonsterVersemonsters go, the only species that can top the MUTOs would be the Skullcrawlers, which – first things first – have a cooler name and an even more creative design, first showing up inKong’s first MonsterVerse outing:Kong: Skull Island. Honestly, these things look wild, and, like the MUTOs, they have a deadlyhistory with the titular monsterof the movie they first appeared in.
They look a bit like lizards from hell, with heads that look skeletal (hence their name) and an uncanny effect created by the fact that they only have two legs. There are numerous ones seen throughout the film, and they’re all pretty horrifying, but thebiggest of the lot – known as an Alpha Skullcrawler or the Skull Devil – takes the cake, and has a memorably brutal fight with Kong.
Kong: Skull Island
First appearance: ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ (2019)
Like Mechagodzilla,Mothra has long been a staple of the JapaneseGodzillafilms ever since the series’ early days, but it took until 2019 for thelegendary kaiju to appear in an American movie. She’s long been a heroic and good-natured monster, usually an ally of Godzilla and occasionally his enemy (only when aGodzillamovie chooses to make its lead monster a villain, of course).
Mothra deserves to rank pretty high among theMonsterVerseTitans because her depiction in this series is pretty similar to that of how she’s been depicted throughout the history of the franchise prior to theMonsterVerse. She’s a guardian of the Earth, proves able to come back to life again and again, and is instrumental in Godzilla ultimately triumphing over King Ghidorah during the final act ofGodzilla: King of the Monsters.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Rodan is a monster that predates even the earliest versions of Mothra and King Ghidorah, having his own film just two years after the originalGodzillafilm from 1954 before starting to appear in installments from that series some years later. Also, like Mothra, he made his first appearance in an American film inGodzilla: King of the Monsters,a somewhat flawed film in the seriesthatdoes at least succeed in showing off some iconic and fan-favorite monsters throughout.
Rodan’s something of a highlight within the movie, too, and though your mileage may vary, there’s an argument to be made that his design here looks cooler than certain depictions of Rodan from the franchise’s past. He makes a real impression during his sequences here, proves to be quite intimidating, and memorably assists King Ghidorah much in the same way Mothra assists Godzilla.
3King Ghidorah
When it comes to iconicGodzillamovie fights, plenty have involved the King of the Monsters clashing with another King: the three-headed dragon known as King Ghidorah.Beyond being spectacular-looking and serving as the main foe inGodzilla: King of the Monsters, one of Ghidorah’s three skulls is used in the creation of Mechagodzilla, effectively ensuring Ghidorah has an appearance of sorts inGodzilla vs. Kong.
A staple of the series that was translated well into theMonsterVerse, King Ghidorah’s dauntingly large, ferocious, and undoubtedly unique-looking. Overall, within the pantheon ofMonsterVerseTitans to date, it’s fair to deem King Ghidorah the king of all the Titans that haven’t been titular monsters, at least not yet… whether Ghidorah will ever make some kind of return (besides being tied to Mechagodzilla) remains to be seen.
2King Kong
Featuring inKong: Skull Islandbefore appearing in two movies alongside Godzilla,both directed byAdam Wingard, Kong has arguably emerged as the lead of theMonsterVerse. Sure, the series began with 2014’sGodzilla, but in bothGodzilla vs. KongandGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kong gets a little more screen time than everyone’s favorite giant radioactive Titan, being an underdog opponent in the former film and driving most of the narrative in the latter.
He maynot be called King Kong in theMonsterVersefor various reasons, but Kong is effectively King Kong regardless: a giant ape who proves to show more emotion – and arguably intelligence – than your average kaiju/Titan.The version of Kong who appears in theMonsterVerseis also particularly huge, and has proven frequently entertaining and endearing over the course of the three movies he’s appeared in between 2017 and 2024.
He’s called the King of the Monsters for a reason: you simply can’t look past Godzilla, pretty much regardless of his iteration (the somewhat silly-looking 1998 version aside). TheGodzillaseries is vast and the titular monster’s a prolific one, andthis is apparent in theMonsterVerse, given Godzilla’s appeared in four out of the five movies so far. He also had much more screen time inMonarch: Legacy of Monstersthan Kong, though the Eighth Wonder of the World did at least have a cameo late in the series.
Godzilla’sproven to be adecent box office draw in recent years, with the moderately successfulMonsterVersemovies and the exceedingly well-regardedGodzilla Minus Onesuggesting that his dominance will continue for some time to come. Kong puts up a good fight and is extremely iconic in his own right, but as far as the best Titans in theMonsterVersego, the top spot has to go to Godzilla.
