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Is Godzilla the new Wolverine or Batman? The Kaiju lizard is making some big waves — and not just the tsunamis he causes coming inland — in 2025, with new series from not one, not two, but three different publishers. It’s a curious confluence of titles that all have different takes on the franchise. The question, of course, is even with his large size whether Gojira can support that many books.
If you’re not entirely clear on what we’re talking about, let’s start with the most recent announcement. The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood reported on December 12 that Marvel will be launching a six-issue event series titled Godzilla vs. Marvel. Per Marvel’s current M.O., the “series” will take the form of six one-shots, all set in different time periods, with the first pitting Godzilla against the Fantastic Four in the 1960s, from Ryan North and John Romita Jr. The book will find King Ghidorah becoming the herald of Galactus, and Godzilla teaming up with the Silver Surfer to save Earth. Subsequent issues will find new creative teams tackling Godzilla and Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Thor. Presumably one more after that, because there are six issues (gonna go out on a limb and say Avengers, but we’ll see). That will hit stores starting in March, 2025.
Moving from Marvel to DC, back at New York Comic Con the publisher announced a sequel to their best-selling Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, which mixes the DC Comics universe peanut butter with Legendary’s Monster-verse chocolate. The sequel series will transport the action from the DCU to the Monster-verse, and include new characters including some from Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, from the returning creative team of Brian Buccellato and Christian Duce. Versus what we know about Godzilla vs. Marvel, which takes a more traditional approach on the Toho monsters, the DC project is all about the modern movies, in comic book form. Though JLvGvK2 doesn’t have a date yet, we know it’ll debut sometime next Summer.
And last but certainly not least, IDW has been working with the Godzilla license for years now, publishing everything from their own crossover comics (Godzilla has mashed up with BOOM! Studios’ Power Rangers, and IDW’s own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) to the wild, literary Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre which crosses the king of the monsters over with The Great Gatsby. But starting with May’s Free Comic Book Day, they’re rebooting the line with a brand new continuity, starting with Godzilla: The New Heroes FCBD 2025.
While not much is known about it at this time (the book will contain stories by Tim Seeley, Ethan S. Parker & Griffin Sheridan, and more) IDW promises, “A new continuity filled to the brim with super powered humans, kaiju half breeds, stories across Earth and Space, and a fresh new take on Godzilla itself.” At the same time, IDW is also launching a few other series in February and March next year including a heist comic, a Mothra book, and even Godzilla vs. Chicago. On the latter, I assume he found out about the disgusting things they do to pizza. RIP, Chicago.
That’s a lot of books competing for limited shelf space and reader attention. And while there’s a chance all of these will be good — they have great creative teams behind them, and different takes on Godzilla’s universe — is it too much? Any fanbase is limited by time and money, and asking Godzilla fans to pick up comic books nearly non-stop from three different publishers might be a strain on the wallet.
Perhaps that’s not an issue, and Godzilla fans aren’t the target here. Marvel fans casual about the world of Toho might see fun inherent in the beasties in the Marvel U for the first time since the ’70s (Godzilla: King of the Monsters was an in-continuity series that ran from 1977-79). Similarly, DC and Monster-verse fans not interested in the Toho properties may just head to the Justice League sequel series. And IDW has been a consistent presence in the field, and whatever they have planned is very much TBD. Absolute Ultimate Godzilla isn’t a bad idea, particularly as rebooted universes are all the rage right now.
But at the same time, casual fans — and I do not say this dismissively — can get easily confused seeing three different Godzilla books on the shelf at the same time, that aren’t connected in any way. And that sort of confusion could lead to getting overwhelmed and checked out, as we’ve seen in the past with Too Much Content coming from any universe, comic book or otherwise.
You’ve got three companies all jockeying for attention in the same space… Godzilla isn’t Wolverine, only coming out from Marvel, or Batman, all coming out from DC. Even with different takes on both of those characters being distributed on a weekly basis, there is one editorial team — or multiple editorial teams working in concert — coordinating on the releases. Here you’ve got three companies who all want the attention of press and fans, which could have the result of one or two fizzling, rather than the whole enterprise getting lifted up. A new Batman fan who likes one story may be encouraged to check out other currently running stories. Here, a Godzilla fan who, say, reads the Justice League sequel, will find something completely different and perhaps contradictory over at Marvel or IDW.
Again, perhaps this isn’t an issue. Certainly IDW has seen enough success with multiple, unconnected Godzilla books since they began their deal with Toho in 2020. And theatrically, clearly the marketplace can support both the goofy action of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the meditative Godzilla Minus One. But it seems more likely given the limited market for comic books that only one of these bold initiatives will become king of the monsters. TBD whether the others will get hit with atomic breath, or merely disappear beneath the surface.
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“]] Godzilla is set to have a big year in 2025 with new comics from Marvel, DC, and IDW. But is this too many books for the king of the monsters? Read More