10 Old-School Toho Kaiju That Legendary Need To Reincarnate

We all knew that the iconic triple-headed dragon King Ghidora was coming back for Legendary’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

But one of the best things about that movie was seeing Godzilla and Ghidora accompanied by Rodan and Mothra, two more of the most beloved Kaiju found throughout the many incarnations of the Toho universe. King of the Monsters also revealed that there are at least seventeen Titans in the MonsterVerse, so we know there’s plenty more to come.

Now, we know that Godzilla will face off against Kong in the next instalment, unsubtly named next year’s Godzilla Vs. Kong. There are also rumours that Mechagodzilla, one of Godzilla’s old rivals, and Nozuki, a new and original Kaiju, will also make appearances.

But what’s our wishlist for other classic old-school Kaiju characters who could feature alongside Kong, or who could return in future Godzilla movies?

It’s true that Legendary’s commitment to realism may appear to rule out a lot of the more outlandish Kaiju, such as space cyborgs or long-dormant insect gods. That said, they’ve adapted Kaiju origin stories pretty freely in the movies they’ve made so far, so there’s no real reason some of the more bizarre beasties couldn’t return in one reimagined form or another.

After all, if Mechagodzilla's coming back, all bets are off!

Hedorah is a slime alien who comes to Earth to feed on the abundant pollution and toxic waste produced by humanity’s many filthy industrial facilities. Beginning life as a tadpole-like parasite, and growing through many incarnations until he reaches his most powerful and destructive final form, Hedorah keeps Godzilla on his toes throughout 1971’s psychedelic eco-horror Godzilla Vs. Hedorah.

Most troubling of all for Godzilla is the fact that Hedorah, whose name derives from the Japanese word for vomit or chemical slurry, seems impervious to his attacks for the majority of the movie.

The big guy’s atomic breath and physical brawling, which usually see him able to overpower his foes, have little to no effect upon Hedorah's viscous, semi-solid body. Human weapons can't damage Hedorah either. Bullets simply pass through the sludge.

It’s no secret that Godzilla himself began life as a powerful metaphor for the nuclear destruction visited on Japan at the end of the Second World War. Likewise, Godzilla Vs. Hedorah had a strong political and environmentalist message at its heart, which was a bold and unusual theme for filmmakers to tackle at the time.

In the era of looming climate catastrophe, what could be more timely than a return of the indestructible smog monster?