Godzilla vs. Smog Monster Sequel in the Works!

Godzilla: Final Wars(2004)

Some very interesting news recently came to light in an interview with Godzilla 2014 executive producer Yoshimitsu Banno about one of Godzilla's most enigmatic foes, The Smog Monster, a.k.a Hedorah, an alien, shape-changing monster that feeds off humanity's filth and pollution. Hedorah appeared in the 1971 film Godzilla vs. Hedorah and also a very brief cameo in the non-stop action Godzilla: Final Wars(2004).

Yoshimitsu Banno

Yoshimitsu Banno is a Toho executive producer and was also co-writer and director of Godzilla vs. Hedorah. The movie featured an infamous scene where Godzilla briefly flies by use of his trademark atomic breath as a kind of jet propulsion. The rather silly scene enraged Godzilla creator and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka who later banned Banno from ever doing another Godzilla film. However, times change and 40 years later, Banno was instrumental in bringing a Godzilla reboot project across the ocean to Hollywood, ultimately finding a home at Legendary Pictures.

There was an erroneous article on the internet that claimed that Godzilla's foe in the new reboot would be Hedorah. We now know that the monsters Godzilla will fight are insect like creatures called Mutos. The Mutos seem to change form during the course of the story similar to Hedorah and some have speculated that this was Banno's influence.

The recent interview comes from the great new kaiju website, Godzilla Fans Universe by Damian Bravo. Banno discusses his inspiration to be a film maker and in the course of their discussion, he revealed something I never knew about Hedorah. In the climactic battle scene, Godzilla ripped into the dying Smog Monster and pulls out organ like structures and finally, two large, white orbs that seem to be eggs and destroys them. Banno revealed that they weren't eggs at all, but actually Hedorah's eyes. Wow, That's even more gruesome!

Then he drops the real bomb. He said he is now developing a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah.  He goes on to name a new, good monster "Midorah" which will fight against Hedorah. What does this mean? Is he referring to a possible sequel to Legendary's Godzilla reboot in 2014, or will this be the beginning of a new Japanese Godzilla series? Will we have two Godzilla franchises going on at the same time on both sides of the Pacific? Regardless, G fans will be pleased that we appear on the cusp of a new golden age of kaiju fantasy films. What's next? Will there be a revival of Gamera, too?

Follow the link above for the full article.