A monster matchup Godzilla’s movies tried and failed to arrange on two different occasions has the potential to be an exciting showdown if it were to occur in theMonsterverse. At some point or another, most kaiju associated with him - eventhose counted as Godzilla’s allies- came to blows with him at least once, including Rodan, Mothra, and even Anguirus. However, there are some exceptions, with Varan being one of them.
Varan, an unique creature with the gliding ability of a flying squirrel, made his cinematic debut in 1958’sVaran the Unbelievable. Made in the style of the originalGodzillamovie from 1954, it saw Varan emerge as a threat to humanity before meeting its end in the film’s final minutes. Much like Godzilla, he was later revived and integrated into Toho’s universe of giant monsters. Unfortunately, his return never amounted to much more than a cameo inDestroy All Monsters. But that’s not to say that Toho brought him back for nothing; in fact, the studio developed multiple plans to use Varan, and some called for him to becomeone of Godzilla’s villains.
Toho Abandoned Several Different Plans For Varan To Appear In Godzilla’s Movies
Godzilla Was Supposed To Fight Varan In Two Of Them
There are four known instances where Varan was expected to share the big screen with Godzilla, and only one of these -Destroy All Monsters- ever reached fruition. ProceedingDestroy All Monsters,the first idea came in the form of a script that teamed Godzilla with Varan and Rodan. In the unmadeThe Return of King Ghidorah!, the trio would have engaged in a three-on-three showdown against Ghidorah, an original kaiju named Mogu, and Gigan in what would have been his first appearance. The plan did wind up going forward, but the matchup was reduced to a two-on-two and formed the basis forGodzilla vs. Gigan.
Godzilla vs. Gigan wasn’t the last movie to replace Varan with another monster. This situation repeated itself in the 1990s when Toho came up with a script titledGodzilla vs. Giant Monster Varan.According to John LeMay’sThe Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films,the idea behind it was to make Varan the ultimate adversary for Godzillaand his final foe in the Heisei era. But in the end, Toho killed the concept and instead pitted him against Destoroyah, with the idea for the fight evolving intoGodzilla vs. Destoroyah.
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Toho tried yet again to make Varan fight Godzilla at the beginning of the Milennium era. In 2000’sGodzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Mothra, Baragon, and Ghidorah were reimagined as spirit guardians who rose up to protect the world from Godzilla. But before settling on those three monsters as the protagonists, Toho intended to go withVaran, Anguirus, and Baragon. Presumably in the interest of making the team more mainstream,Toho swapped out Varan and Anguirus with Ghidorah and Mothra, both of which being much bigger names.
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Varan Is Toho’s Most Versatile Monster
Given that Toho hasn’t put Varan in a movie since 1968, there’s little hope for his drought from Toho’s movies to end anytime soon. He arguably has a better chance of appearing in the Monsterverse, which has already adapted a few of the creatures from Toho’s library. With theMonsterverse expected to branch out into multiple TV showsand release at least one more Godzilla-Kong movie, the studio bringing in more Toho kaiju isn’t implausible. And granted, they’d have more popular options available to them than Varan, but he has specific physical characteristics that could make him a truly formidable opponent.
Varan was envisioned as a kaiju who is a force to reckoned with whether he’s in the water, on the ground, or in the air.
Varan was envisioned as a kaiju who is a force to reckoned with whether he’s in the water, on the ground, or in the air. The four-legged monster is quite mobile on land, where he spent a great deal of time in Varan the Unbelievable. But he could menace the humans in other ways as well, as he was also an adept swimmer (not unlike Godzilla). But one area where he is superior to Godzilla is in the air; with thesole exception ofGodzilla vs. Hedorah, the King of the Monsters can’t take to the skies, whereas Varan can glide around like a flying squirrel.
Being the most versatile monster in Godzilla’s movies gives the Monsterverse all sorts of potential when it comes to action sequences. Inthe Monsterverse’s Godzilla movies, Godzilla has used the sea to seize the advantage in battles against Kong and Ghidorah, but wouldn’t be able to do that against Varan, who would likely be at ease regardless of the battleground. He’d be especially comfortable in the air, where Godzilla could struggle to bring him down. As his fight with the male MUTO in 2014’sGodzillaproved,battling flying monsters can be a huge annoyance for the alpha Titan.
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As for how the Monsterverse would approach Varan if it were to bring him into the world of the Titans, one of the scrapped plans provides an interesting blueprint. AsThe Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Filmsexplained,Godzilla vs. Giant Monster Varanwould have reintroduced Varan as"the harbinger of the apocalypse.“Apparently, the film would have been a team-up in which Godzilla and Godzilla Junior battled Varan, an ancient creature destined to bring about the destruction of the planet.
The existence of ancient monsters is the true backbone of its universe, hence why a villain in the same vein as the Heisei interpretation of Varan feels like a natural choice for a future Monsterverse villain.
For Toho’sGodzillafranchise, Destoroyah (a monster made from the weapon that killed Godzilla) was most likely the best fit between the two for this role, but the Monsterverse is a different situation entirely. The existence of ancient monsters is the true backbone of its universe, hence why a villain in the same vein as the Heisei interpretation of Varan feels like a natural choice fora future Monsterverse villain. As a creature prophecized to bring the world to its knees, Varan could be perceived as the greatest threat out there.
Godzilla already faced potentiallly word-ending threats in Ghidorah andShimo inGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but Varan could be presented in an even more sinister light if starting the apocalypse is his destiny in the Monsterverse. Alongside a mysterious set of coordinates, a hidden message in theGodzilla: King of the Monsterscredits offered an ominous tease, “But how long will it take for the fires to awaken … and send our own civilization into collapse.” If this was meant to pave the way for a hibernating Titan to wake up from within the Hollow Earth and look to destroy everythng in sight, Varan could be the ideal creature to fill that role.
Monsterverse
The Monsterverse is a giant kaiju franchise that began in 2014 with Legendary’s Godzilla starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, and Elizabeth Olsen. The film was followed up by Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
