Shimo is an entirely new creature in the MonsterVerse and we asked Godzilla x Kong’s director about the kaiju’s surprising origin.
While Godzilla has a big doppelganger in Mechagodzilla, the mechanical terror that made its MonsterVerse debut in Godzilla Vs. Kong, The New Empire has decided to create an entirely new double for the king of the monster to fight. Shimo is an albino kaiju that seemingly is able to deliver icy blasts from its gaping maw, rather than the atomic blasts that Godzilla uses on the regular. Recently, we here at ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s director, Adam Wingard, about the origin of Shimo.
When asked about how Shimo came to be, Wingard stated that his desire to see Kong and Godzilla face a threat big enough that they would need to team up helped breathe life into this original kaiju, “The starting point was Skar King was always going to be the anti-Kong, and Shimo was going to be the anti-Godzilla sort of for this movie. Because I wanted a threat that was so big… It was like you needed a threat so big that the two of them would have to unite to take it on. And the fun thing about Shimo is that she really is this kind of weapon of mass destruction. And I wouldn’t say she’s good or bad. She’s kind of a blank slate, and that’s what makes her an interesting character as a monster.”
The Design of Shimo
When we asked Wingard regarding the design of the creature Wingard noted that it was, “one of the riskiest things you can do in a series like this is when you’re creating new characters because everyone’s always going to look at the catalog of characters that haven’t been updated yet, and they’re going to say, “Well, why this one and not this one?” And so for me, though, whenever you’re creating a character in the MonsterVerse, I have a personal philosophy about it, which is what makes the MonsterVerse characters feel like MonsterVerse monsters is that there’s somewhat of a simplicity to the design that I try to adhere to.”
Which original Toho kaiju do you want to see make their presence known in a future installment of the MonsterVerse? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Godzilla and Kong.