godzilla vs muto prime

Even Godzilla Isn't Strong Enough to Beat MonsterVerse's Most Powerful MUTO

Godzilla has a reputation for being the toughest kaiju on the face of the Earth, with his King of the Monsters moniker cementing that supposed fact within MonsterVerse canon. However, there seems to be one specific kaiju the MonsterVerse has left out of its TV and film continuity, as one Godzilla comic book tie-in reveals that even Godzilla isnโ€™t strong enough to beat the most powerful MUTO.

MUTOs were introduced at the very start of the MonsterVerse in 2014โ€™s Godzilla. They are giant, chitinous creatures that want nothing more than to decimate, procreate, and repeat, until the entire world is theirs. Godzilla – being the living embodiment of a raw force of nature in MonsterVerse canon – has a duty to keep the world in-check, which means he couldnโ€™t allow the MUTOs to continue on as they were. This left Godzilla no choice but to kill the MUTOs in a blaze of atomic fire.

While Godzilla completed his goal of keeping the MUTO population in-check, which simultaneously saved the world, it turns out the creatures he was fighting in the film were essentially just babies. None of them had reached full maturity, and even still, they were difficult for Godzilla to eradicate. However, it wouldnโ€™t be long afterward that Godzilla was faced with a full-grown MUTO, and shockingly enough, it was too much for him to handle alone.

After Godzilla defeats the MUTOs, a gargantuan beast thatโ€™s later confirmed to be MUTO-Prime awakens from the depths of the Earth itself. While rightfully angry at Godzilla for what he did to her brood, MUTO-Prime doesnโ€™t go after him for the sole purpose of revenge, but for a chillingly more logical and instinctual need: to procreate. Readers learn that MUTOs need members of Godzillaโ€™s species to procreate, and MUTO-Primes (or, fully mature MUTO adults) are the only ones that have that biological capability.

Godzilla fights MUTO-Prime a few times in this comic, and every single time, he either barely escapes with his life, or is right on the verge of death before something else comes along to save him. By the end of the issue, humanity actually acted as Godzillaโ€™s savior, as Monarch developed a sonic weapon that weakened MUTO-Prime long enough for Godzilla to deliver the killing blow. While Godzilla was once again victorious over this species, he wouldnโ€™t have been if not for the assistance offered by humanity.

While many MonsterVerse fans would naturally assume that the members of Kongโ€™s species were the ancestral rivals of Godzillaโ€™s species, and therefore were the ones to drive Godzillaโ€™s race to near extinction (and vice versa), the existence of MUTO-Prime totally flips that assumption on its head. Not only were the MUTOs Godzillaโ€™s first enemies in MonsterVerse canon, but – chronologically speaking – they were seemingly responsible for nearly wiping out Godzillaโ€™s entire race. The MUTOs procreated like parasites in the โ€˜Godzillaโ€™ corpses until there was only one left, making MUTOs Godzillaโ€™s true, ultimate rivals.

The fact that Godzilla was essentially fighting on behalf of his entire species while battling MUTO-Prime, and couldnโ€™t defeat her alone, is absolutely heart-wrenching, as he was robbed of the chance to truly avenge his race. Though simultaneously, itโ€™s beautiful to see how humanity stepped up and accepted Godzilla as its protector, with Monarch offering its assistance when Godzilla needed it the most. However, sentimentality aside, the biggest takeaway from this comic is the most obvious: even Godzilla – the King of the Monsters himself – isnโ€™t strong enough to beat MonsterVerseโ€™s most powerful MUTO.