The first time Godzilla and Kong met on the big screen was in 1962 in a Japanese kanji film called King Kong vs Godzilla. Almost sixty years later, these iconic monsters reunite on the big screen as they duke it out. Screenwriter Max Borenstein who wrote the current release Godzilla vs Kong has been involved with both monsterverses spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about bringing these legendary characters back to cinema. We asked him about the timeless, enduring nature of these monsters and why audiences love watching them.

“Kong and Godzilla are iconic monsters that meant different things over time,” began Borenstein. “Like all great monsters they become vessels for our fears and anxieties.” Many of our reactions are well-founded, especially after surviving and processing our deadliest pandemic. Although our fears and anxieties change over time, our core emotions about things we can’t control or threaten our survival remain the same. “Kong and Godzilla are used to channel our fears into the issues of the moment to keep them relevant in modern pop culture.”

Godzilla was created in 1954 as a swamp lizard, almost a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked with atomic bombs. “Godzilla represents the terror and the existential threat that humans can unleash. Kong who first appeared in 1933 emerged as a metaphor for colonialism; the jungle beast, the unknown, the other, that was considered the misunderstood outcast,” mused Borenstein. Kong was always treated as a threat by humanity despite only attacking them after provocation. Ironically, humans invaded Kong’s habitat so he protected that. “What humans don’t understand, they attack.”

Max Borenstein

Our combined fears and anxieties are heightened especially now that we are living in a time where we are so deeply interconnected. “What we do in one place has a butterfly effect around the world. The pandemic and climate change are obvious examples of this, making them difficult to ignore.”

These dangers affect and threaten all of humanity. “We can use them as opportunities to come together or show our worst sides and fall apart as a society,” continued the writer. The scale of Kong and Godzilla speak to magnitude of these issues in contemporary life. “Some things that are so big and scary can also provide moments of hope and opportunity.”

The concept of the mashup film is common in superhero franchises as a way of expanding out a comic book universe. Godzilla and Kong are both successful properties in their own right, but pitting them against each other is more than creating content. There have been thirty-five Godzilla films and eleven Kong films prior to Godzilla vs Kong, including one mashup film in 1962 where they appeared together. “Godzilla vs Kong is a bit more organic than a mashup,” said Borenstein. “We created this world with these two titans who had a massive impact on human life. They were bound to meet as their stories evolved.” Each monster brought their own mythology to the mix.

Max Borenstein didn’t perceive the constraints of a mashup movie as a limitation, but rather, “A logical conclusion of the story we have built. Godzilla and Kong should have a shared origin, history, and trajectory.”

Going Home

Godzilla vs Kong is ostensibly Kong’s story as he returns to his motherland. It is an origin story of sorts. “This is the emotional core of the movie of Kong wanting to go home where there are more creatures like him. Godzilla is more unknowable without a distinct trajectory.” He was born in a toxic swamp.

Kong is an anti-hero who’s been displaced from the one home he’s ever known, so his only option is to return to Hollow Earth in the hope of finding more like himself where he wouldn’t feel so lonely. “He’s the last of his kind on Skull Island so there’s a longing that he’ll find a sense of belonging if he returns home. This ties into the idea of the loneliness of monsters; similar to Frankenstein.”

“Going home for Kong is finding a world where you belong, not just fighting to survive. Kong wants to be part of a tribe.” This is in sharp contrast to Godzilla. “Lizards are less communal, societal, and don’t have a need to connect with their roots. Godzilla is a primitive being so we don’t have that same level of empathy as we do to Kong.” Lizards predate mammals in the evolutionary scale.

Jia (Kaylee Hottle)

Jia

Kong’s guardians help him find his home with the assistance of Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a girl with a special connection to Kong. Both Jia and Kong are the last of their tribes and both are orphans. “There’s a deep emotional parallel between them. Both are displaced and feel like ‘the other.’ Despite both having caregivers, both have had a part of their pasts torn away from them which they yearn for. Both are misunderstood.” This connection creates a brother-sister type of relationship. “The concept of orphans in mythic storytelling is universally relatable,” concluded the screenwriter. “The only thing that changes is specificity and nuance because we all have parents we lose at some point.” Jia, the orphan creates context and identification for Kong’s character.

The mythology of Kong and Godzilla portrays them as ancient rivals battling it out through the decades. Sometimes Godzilla wins, sometimes Kin Kong wins. Kong is generally the protector of the human race while Godzilla is more the force of caution. “They have a shared goal of impacting humanity which leads them to an uneasy alliance. Their adversarial nature depends on a mutual respect of each other’s fortitude. Even a cold-blooded killer like Godzilla recognizes the warm-blooded Kong as a reluctant ally. Kong is a live and let live beast while Godzilla is a straight up attacker.”

Both of these epic monsters each have to teach lessons to humanity. They were there first and humans infringed on their world. Humans must respect nature and learn to live in harmony with Kong and Godzilla. It turns the notion of the invader on its head since humans are the colonialists. The monsters are not ‘the others’, humans are. Both monsters kings and we must bow to them.

In conclusion, we asked Max Borenstein what traits successful screenwriters should observe. “Craft, curiosity, and empathy.“