Warning: Spoilers for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

What Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire revealed about Skar King’s history goes to show that Godzilla was always going to win his battles with Kong. Going into their first Monsterverse crossover, Godzilla had a losing record against the King of Skull Island on account of King Kong vs. Godzilla’s ending. However, the Monsterverse was quick to turn the tables, with Godzilla securing two decisive victories over his Titan rival in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Surprisingly, there was a moment in their Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire rematch that might have indicated things could turn out differently this time. After seeming to pummel Godzilla into unconsciousness with his BEAST Glove, Kong began to drag Godzilla toward the Hollow Earth entry point. Ultimately though, Godzilla recovered and defeated Kong once again. But despite how that situation may have looked for Godzilla momentarily, the odds of the King of the Monsters losing were dismal at best, and the history lesson the movie provided for the Monsterverse’s Skar King is further evidence of that.

Skar King’s History Demonstrates Just How Powerful Godzilla Is

Skar King’s Defeat Is Proof That Godzilla’s King Of The Monsters Title Is Well-Deserved

While in Mothra’s temple, Godzilla x Kong’s human characters learned the truth about Skar King’s past. As the Iwi explained, Godzilla went up against Skar King at some point in the Monsterverse’s ancient history and managed to seal the creature and his allies in the Subterranean Realm. Admittedly, his victory wasn’t an easy one, as it was said in the film that Godzilla sustained serious wounds in the fight. Even so, his ability to get the best of Skar King speaks volumes about his power level when considering the forces he was facing, which included an untold number of Great Apes and Shimo.

On top of having to fight the alpha of the Monsterverse’s Great Apes, Godzilla managed to survive against several of his minions and the ice dragon Titan that the Skar King kept as his slave. He may not have outright won against all of them, but he fared well enough to trap them in the Subterranean Realm. And since the story only mentions a single Godzilla, it can be presumed that he didn’t have the help of any members of his species, meaning that he may have already been alone at this point. If that many Great Apes (plus Shimo) couldn’t kill Godzilla, it’s hard to imagine how Kong ever could have pulled that off.

Godzilla’s Superiority Over The Great Apes Was Hinted At Before Godzilla x Kong

The Great Apes Lost Their Home To Godzilla Thousands Of Years Ago

While Godzilla x Kong’s telling of Godzilla’s history with Skar King should settle any remaining doubts about where he and Kong fit into the power structure of the Monsterverse, it’s not a reveal that comes out of left field. In fact, it corroborates hints from Godzilla vs. Kong and its novelization. Godzilla beating Kong doesn’t prove on its own that his species is just naturally superior to Kong’s, but additional context does help paint a better picture of where they stand. As the novelization explains, Kong’s species was forced to leave their original home because of Godzilla.

That makes sense, considering that Kong most likely never would have been on Skull Island in the first place had his ancestors won the Titan War. Their loss of territory heavily implied that the Great Apes experienced a total defeat in the Titan War. With it being their ancestral home, it stands to reason that the Great Apes never would have abandoned the Monsterverse’s Hollow Earth world if they had a legitimate hope of eventually of overcoming Godzilla’s power. They must have recognized that he was the true alpha of the Monsterverse.

The movie itself didn’t go into detail into what exactly occurred during those battles in the Hollow Earth, but if the novelization is any indication, Godzilla didn’t have much help. The Titan War murals in Godzilla vs. Kong’s opening credits and the axes adorned with Godzilla’s dorsal fins indicate that multiple members of his species participated in the Titan War, but the novelization’s description of Iwi myths only identifies one Godzilla as Kong’s ancestors’ true nemesis. This goes hand-in-hand with the notion that Godzilla single-handedly won his war with Skar King’s Great Ape army.

Why Godzilla Takes So Long To Beat Kong (Despite Their Power Level Gap)

Godzilla Is Still Vastly Superior To Kong

What happened in Godzilla vs. Kong’s Titan War and the fight against Skar King set the precedent for what would transpire later, and though Kong did put up a good fight, history still repeated itself nonetheless. But what’s interesting about that, is how long well Kong lasted, especially in light of the fact that Godzilla is clearly strong enough to hold off several Great Apes at once. Part of that can be owed to Kong’s own prowess, as Godzilla x Kong illustrated in Kong’s first fight with Skar King that he’s the stronger fighter of the two. Kong may very well be the strongest Great Ape in Monsterverse history.

That said, his ability to hold his own against Godzilla goes well beyond that. It can also be attributed to Godzilla’s restrained approach to fighting Kong. While there were moments when he did try to finish off Kong, it was argued by Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard in the movie’s director’s commentary that Godzilla was enjoying himself when fighting Kong, and therefore wasn’t fighting at full force. According to Wingard, he didn’t stop holding back until Kong angered him by striking him in the face with his Godzilla-powered axe. Apparently, the personal satisfaction Godzilla gets from fighting rival alphas had a lot to do with how Kong was able to stay in the fight as long as he did.

Another significant contributing factor is the help he gets from the humans. It shouldn’t be forgotten, of course, that Godzilla would have killed Kong with his atomic breath within minutes of their first fight in Godzilla vs. Kong if it wasn’t for the military attacking him with their missiles. Plus, there’s the matter of the BEAST Glove. This manmade weapon was quite clearly the key to Kong’s strategy against him in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which further demonstrates the role advanced human technology has played in Kong’s fights with Godzilla. This wasn’t something the Great Apes had on their side in either of their ancient conflicts with Godzilla.