Kong’s best weapon – his intelligence – may not work as well as fans are expecting it to against the King of the Monsters when they have their showdown in Godzilla vs. Kong. Since Godzilla possesses more raw power, a commonly held opinion is that Kong will have to prove that brains prevail over brawn when the two have their long-awaited clash.
Kong has always had a reputation for being a remarkably intelligent and perceptive monster. As a primate, Kong is naturally smarter than most – if not all – other Titans. He has the ability to use his environment to his advantage, can recognize friend from foe, and is also capable of using tools to win his battles (Kong’s famous axe being one of them). Many believe that Kong’s intelligence will give him a much-needed advantage when he faces Godzilla in the upcoming 2021 MonsterVerse movie, but that may prove difficult.
It’s important to point out that audiences shouldn’t overestimate Kong’s intelligence in terms of how it compares to Godzilla’s. It would be a mistake to assume that when it comes to intellect, Godzilla will be at a severe disadvantage against Kong. To come to this conclusion would be to ignore the fact that Godzilla is an intelligent Titan in his own right. True to how Toho depicted him in their classic films, the MonsterVerse’s take on Godzilla has been shown to be capable of tactical thinking and problem solving.
One example of this occurred in the 2014 movie, when he was fighting the flying M.U.T.O. When Godzilla was having trouble landing a blow, he stopped and watched the creature’s movements. After timing his next move perfectly, Godzilla waited and executed a well-coordinated tail smack. Essentially what Godzilla did was identify a problem and find a way to fix it. In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it caught his attention when Ghidorah began siphoning energy from the electrical grid. Godzilla’s reaction indicated that he understood what was happening. Godzilla also didn’t try to rip Ghidorah’s head off after their second fight in New Mexico, possibly because he knew at this point that the heads could be regenerated. In the same movie, Godzilla delivered an angry look at the humans following his revival, which showed that he was smart enough to know that it was their kind that wounded him with the Oxygen Destroyer.
What all this means is that Godzilla is a being of great intelligence. He won’t be outclassed in this aspect by Kong in the upcoming film. The two being on equal (or near equal) footing in this area means that Kong’s best asset may not be very effective against Godzilla. Kong may use his capacity to build tools to create a deadly axe, but once Godzilla fights him for a while, he should be able to develop an understanding of his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, and then come up with a strategy to defeat him, just as he tends to do in Toho’s movies. If that happens, Kong could be in serious trouble. Godzilla could recognize that Kong has no proper defense for his atomic breath and unleash a devastating attack. It could be that Kong’s only real advantages will be his superior speed and agility.
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)Release date: Mar 31, 2021
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