Kong and Godzilla fight Justice League in upcoming crossover saga

July 20, 2023 Chris Well

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“It’s a crossover, no-holds-barred battle, decades in the making, and no bona fide comics fan will want to miss it!”—Jim Lee

“There have been a couple of classic crossovers since I started reading comics,” says Legendary Comics’ Robert Napton. “We hope Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong joins that list of unforgettable meetings.”

In the comic book world, it’s always a cool thing to see worlds collide—whether you’re thinking about when Doctor Who visited the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, or the Green Lantern Corps confronted the Planet of the Apes, or that time when RoboCop fought The Terminator.

(And one of these days, we’ll have to sit down and talk about that amazing comic book series Scooby-Doo! Team-Up, when the kids in Mystery Incorporated met up with all sorts of characters from both the DC Comics universe and the history of cartoon makers Hanna-Barbera.)

Well, the folks at San Diego Comic-Con learned that DC Comics is headed for one of the most ambitious crossovers ever: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, scheduled to kick off this October, will be a seven-issue series that sees DC’s biggest heroes meet up with the two giant monsters.

A partnership formed by DC Comics, Legendary Comics, and Toho International, the series will be written by Brian Buccellato (The Flash, Injustice, Detective Comics), with art from Christian Duce (Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point) and colorist Luis Guerrero.

Scroll down to watch the video trailer! Below that, we also offer background info about the various contenders—plus more about the upcoming crossover…

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Godzilla vs Kong vs Justice League | Comic Trailer | DC

About Godzilla and Kong

First meeting onscreen in the 1962 movie King Kong vs. Godzilla, the two giant monsters each have a major history in the media…

Kong

One of the earliest examples of a giant movie monster, the big ape first appeared in the 1933 classic movie King Kong. In the film, Kong is captured from his island home and shipped back to New York City, where he escapes his captors, terrorizes the city, climbs the Empire State Building, battles fighter planes, and falls to his death.

The movie King Kong inspired the make-it-quick 1933 sequel The Son of Kong, plus remakes of the original movie. The film also paved the way for lots more giant monster movies, including knockoffs from filmmakers around the world.

King Kong also inspired lots of other media—including TV shows, books, comic books, video games, stage shows, and more.

Crossovers over time have included appearances of lookalike Titano the Super-Ape, a Superman character that debuted in 1959; an unnamed version of Kong appeared in the 1967 stop-motion monster gathering Mad Monster Party; lookalikes also appeared in a 1968 episode of cartoon Wacky Races and a 1992 episode of The Simpsons; King Kong was also one of the many guest stars in the 2017 LEGO Batman Movie.

In print, Kong crossed over with the Planet of the Apes in a 2017 comic book, and crossed over with classic pulp heroes Doc Savage (in 2013) and Tarzan (in 2016).

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Godzilla

Called “King of the Monsters,” the kaiju Godzilla is an enormous dinosaur-like reptile monster powered by nuclear radiation. He made his debut in the 1954 Japanese movie Gojira (the name he is called in Japan).

He quickly became an international pop icon, appearing in all kinds of media—including dozens of movies made in Japan, a few movies made in Hollywood, plus lots of video games, novels, comic books and TV shows.

Over the years, his world has grown to include lots of monsters—both enemies and allies—including Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and more.

In the 1960s, Godzilla studio Toho licensed the rights to make their own King Kong movies. They made the crossover King Kong vs. Godzilla, plus the Kong-vs-a-robot movie King Kong Escapes.

As for additional crossovers, Godzilla (well, the original movie costume) appeared in the 1966 TV show Ultraman. Godzilla also appeared in the 1973 show Zone Fighter, and in the 1992 TV commercial...where he played basketball...against Charles Barkley. There was also the comic book event Godzilla Vs. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

(And there was that 1969 movie Bambi Meets Godzilla. It’s short. Very short.)

Godzilla also spent some time in the Marvel Comics universe—in his own comic book. In 1977, when Marvel licensed the monster from Toho, Godzilla crossed paths with Marvel regulars like the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (When I read that comic as a kid, I liked it a lot!)

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Kong and Godzilla in the MonsterVerse

In the past few years, the America media company Legendary Entertainment has been building the MonsterVerse, combining the legends of Godzilla, King Kong, plus other monsters from Toho. The official MonsterVerse movies list includes the 2014 movie Godzilla, the 2017 movie Kong: Skull Island, the 2019 movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and the big 2021 smash-em-up Godzilla vs. Kong.

The two behemoths cross paths on the big screen again in 2024 with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

The MonsterVerse crew has also set the monsters loose in other media. There have been a number of comic book projects as well as the 2023 Netflix animated TV show Skull Island. In the works for Apple+ is the upcoming live action series Godzilla and the Titans. (Starring Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell!)

About the Justice League

Called the “World’s Greatest Super Heroes,” the DC Comics team Justice League has included many popular heroes on its roster. Introduced in the comics in 1960, over the years the team’s all-star lineup has included the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern, Vixen, Booster Gold, Zatanna, Black Lightning, and lots more.

Although the League has gone through several different team memberships over the years—and has broken up and gotten back together lots of times—when things go bad and the earth needs its greatest heroes back on the front lines, the League answers the call to duty.

Previous intercompany crossovers have included the Justice League meeting up with Power Rangers, Masters of the Universe, Predator, the Avengers, and more.

DC Comics related links:

About the big team-up Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong

Coming to comics outlets this fall, a routine clash between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom takes a dangerous turn when Godzilla, Kong, and the Monsterverse show up in the DC universe. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong features a tussle of horrendous scale and destruction!

Says Jim Lee, DC President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer:

“As a comics fan, there’s nothing more fun and exciting than exploring those amazing What If situations that come up when fandoms cross streams! In this case, it’s a matchup of the world’s greatest superheroes in the Justice League who take on not only the King of the Monsters—Godzilla—but the mighty Kong himself! It’s a crossover, no-holds-barred battle, decades in the making, and no bona fide comics fan will want to miss it!”

Says Robert Napton, SVP & Publisher, Legendary Comics:

“There have been a couple of classic crossovers since I started reading comics—Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man, The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans—and we hope Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong joins that list of unforgettable meetings. I am grateful to everyone at DC, Legendary Entertainment, and Toho International for the passionate support we received to have these worlds collide!”

Says writer Brian Buccellato:

“I’ve had the good fortune to write most of the legendary DC superheroes before. This time I get to build something way larger-than-life using all the toys in two different sandboxes. It’s such a thrill to tear open both the DC Universe and Legendary’s Monsterverse for this dream project.

Buccellato adds that artist Christian Duce and colorist Luis Guerrero are “perfect partners” in this project:

“Christian has been masterful in his navigating the story’s enormous scope in terms of character moments, rampaging monsters, and big superhero action. And Luis’s stunning palette and rendering are an amazing complement to Christian’s art.”

The first issue of Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong is scheduled to appear October 17.

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