An Unmade 1972 Monster Movie Reveals The Ultimate Villain Team-Up Even Godzilla Wouldn't Be Able To Beat

Godzilla vs. Gigan nearly featured a monster lineup that would have produced the strongest villain team-up in history. While many of Godzilla's movies have been simple "versus" stories that pit him against singular villains, a number of them have been willing to pit the King of the Monsters against multiple opponents. Sometimes, this calls for Godzilla to be outnumbered, as was the case in 2014's Godzilla. On the other hand, there have been some situations - like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire's ending - where Godzilla gets a partner to help him take on his enemies.

Villain team-ups have been occurring in the Godzilla franchise since 1972 when Toho made Godzilla vs. Gigan. One of Godzilla's many allies in Destroy All Monsters, one-time Godzilla villain Anguirus was paired up with Godzilla in the film for a two-on-two kaiju battle against Ghidorah and Gigan in his first-ever appearance. It was a fight Godzilla nearly lost, and had Toho kept one of its earlier ideas for the matchup, victory would have been harder to achieve for the monster.

The Return Of King Ghidorah! Would Have Featured Three Powerful Godzilla Villains

Godzilla, Rodan, and Varan Would Have Fought Gigan, King Ghidorah, And Megalon

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With Gigan and King Ghidorah as its main villains, Godzilla vs. Gigan offered a formidable duo of monsters for Godzilla to contend with. Interestingly, though, this wouldn't have been as challenging as the fight that was called for by an earlier version of the script. Before the project was rebranded and reworked into Godzilla vs. Gigan, The Return of King Ghidorah! was meant to end in a three-on-three battle, rather than a two-on-two. According to John LeMay's The Big Book of Giant Japanese Monster Movies: The Lost Films, Godzilla would have had to deal with the two classic Godzilla villains plus Megalon.

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The Return of King Ghidorah! would have been a one-year-early debut for Megalon, given that the creature had yet to appear in the franchise and wasn't introduced until the following year via Godzilla vs. Megalon. In that movie, Godzilla had Jet Jaguar helping him beat Gigan and Megalon. As for who'd be assisting him in this particular matchup, Rodan and Varan would have served as his allies. Rodan had already proven useful to Godzilla thanks to his roles in past Godzilla films, but even with him around, Godzilla would have been hard-pressed to win this prospective battle.

Why The Plan For The Return Of King Ghidorah! Trumps All Other Villain Team-Ups In Godzilla's Movies

Gigan, Megalon, and Ghidorah Would Have Been An Extremely Difficult Matchup For Godzilla

Through his appearances in both movies, Gigan has had Ghidorah and Megalon as partners in his efforts to beat the King of the Monsters. However, he's never had both on his side at the same time. But had The Return of King Ghidorah! reached fruition, that's exactly the scenario Godzilla would have been faced with. Considering Ghidorah's history of fighting entire teams of kaiju and the bloody beating Godzilla ultimately received from Gigan in the finished film, throwing another kaiju into the mix most certainly would have made this fight an extraordinary challenge.

With Gigan's deadliness in close combat and Ghidorah's versatility as a creature that can fly and discharge a potent beam attack, Megalon would have transformed the duo into even more of a multi-pronged threat.

Megalon is arguably less imposing than Gigan and Ghidorah, but is still dangerous nonetheless. His drill-like hands and burrowing ability made him a force to be reckoned with in Godzilla vs. Megalon, and these unique qualities would have brought balance to the team-up of Gigan and Ghidorah. With Gigan's deadliness in close combat and Ghidorah's versatility as a creature that can fly and discharge a potent beam attack, Megalon would have transformed the duo into even more of a mult-pronged threat.

Godzilla: Final Wars, to its credit, did feature a handful of established Godzilla adversaries, but most were spread throughout the film.

This villain team-up would have trumped all the others in the franchise's history, and not just because of each kaiju's individual powers and how they'd compliment each other in battle. There's also the fact that the franchise hasn't really tried to make impressive teams of Godzilla villains. If he's going to fight more than one, it's usually just two, with the pack of Kamacuras in Son of Godzilla standing out as only one of the situations where he's had to battle three monsters at once. And those creatures were hardly threats to Godzilla in the first place.

Toho's Cancelled Plan For The Return Of King Ghidorah! Highlights What Godzilla's Movies Should Do Next

It's been 52 years since Toho scrapped its plan for The Return of King Ghidorah!, and the notion that even after all this time, the Godzilla franchise has yet to showcase a team-up of that power level is indicative of what the franchise is lacking. Through movies like Destroy All Monsters and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, it's certainly assembled some powerful heroic alliances but hasn't done the same when it comes to villains. Godzilla: Final Wars, to its credit, did feature a handful of established Godzilla adversaries, but most were spread throughout the film.

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Future installments, whether it be Godzilla x Kong's announced sequel or Toho's follow-up to Godzilla Minus One, could take the franchise in a bold direction by gathering a trio of monsters from Godzilla's rogues' gallery. After all, a three-on-three battle is not something Godzilla's movies have done before. This being on a greater scale than previous Godzilla films would bring a new level of excitement to the movie's final showdown. A plan like this would be especially appropriate for the Monsterverse, as it's been increasing the stakes as it goes along. A three-on-three battle feels like a natural next step for the Monstervese, which just did a two-on-two fight in Godzilla x Kong.

In regards to what that team-up could be, there's no shortage of appealing options. The exact team-up from the precursor to Godzilla vs. Gigan is naturally off the table for the Monsterverse due to Ghidorah's death in Godzilla: King of the Monsters' ending, but both Gigan and Megalon would make a lot of sense for at least two of the villains. The existence of alien Titans in Godzilla's Monsterverse makes Gigan a real possibility, and Megalon's subterranean origin would enable him to fit seamlessly into the Monsterverse's Hollow Earth world. Biollante, Destoroyah, SpaceGodzilla, or even Hedorah could work as suitable stand-ins for Ghidorah.