Time to bust out the kaiju-sized party balloons. Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, the American remix of Gojira, hit stateside audiences 70 years ago today on April 27, 1956. The film was a re-edited version of the Japanese original, with new scenes filmed starring Raymond Burr and a new story following an American reporter covering the story of the century: the appearance of Godzilla on the shores of Japan.
What else is going on in the kaiju world? It’s a pretty light week, but here are some highlights.
- Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Threatre Presents by IDW premiered its first issue earlier this month: Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla. It’s exactly what it sounds like. The comics series features Godzilla taking part in classic stories, also including The Odyssey and Robin Hood. I mean, he has to take some side-gigs in between major motion pictures, you know? Minus Zero is still, what, seven months away?
- Something I’m interested in but haven’t had the courage to buy (or even find) are a bunch of packs of Godzilla: Reign of Kaiju, a UniVersus collectable card game booster set that came out in March. The set includes 15 kaiju from the Godzilla franchise.
- King of Tokyo: Godzilla is a board game that debuted this month, targeting an August release. The game features the bunch – Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan, and Hedorah – in fast-paced boardgame action based on the popular movie monster boardgame King of Tokyo.
“Fans of giant monsters and tabletop games will soon have a new way to stage their own kaiju showdowns. King of Tokyo: Godzilla, an updated version of Richard Garfield’s popular King of Tokyo board game, introduces Japan’s most famous movie monsters to the dice-driven battle for control of Tokyo.”
- Finally, two Steam games to watch are MECHBORN and Gido Gido: Kaiju Battle Party. Look, if it mentions kaiju or giant robots, I’m into it. MECHBORN is a roguelike deckbuilder inspired by ’90s mech anime and Greek mythology, while Gido Gido is a 4v4 party brawler where everyone plays as “giant cuddly creatures.” Both are planning to release sometime in 2026.
That’s it for this week’s roundup. Otherwise it’s raining, a bit cold, and just kind of weird outside. Perfect time to head over to Tubi and catch some of the Godzilla movies on there. They probably have more than you’d think! Worth a look!
