The Godzilla: King of the Monsters villains did a much better job with Thanos’ plan than the Mad Titan himself. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos (Josh Brolin) uses the Infinity Stones to eradicate half of all life in order to rebuild the universe into something better. In King of the Monsters, Emma (Vera Farmiga) and Jonah (Charles Dance) come up with a very different plan, but with similar goals. While Thanos’ plan is too flawed to succeed, the eco-terrorists in Godzilla 2 manage to pull off a scheme that actually works.
Directed by Mike Dougherty, King of the Monsters brought back Godzilla and introduced three classic Toho monsters to the MonsterVerse. The third film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse introduced an ancient rivalry between Godzilla and King Ghidorah. As the two Titans battle for dominance, Mothra and Rodan are drawn into the conflict, along with the secret organization Monarch, who tries to help Godzilla stop King Ghidorah. Behind all of the destruction that takes place in King of the Monsters is a group of eco-terrorists who put entire civilizations at risk on the hope that Titans can save the planet.
Infinity War also focuses on a villain who thinks his goals are noble. Believing that he alone can fix what’s wrong with the universe, Thanos sets out to steal the Infinity Stones, coming in contact with the Avengers along the way who do everything they can to do stop him. But just like Jonah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Thanos walks away as the movie’s only winner. At the end of Infinity War, Thanos proceeds to watch “the sun set on a grateful universe”. While Thanos’ victory is taken away by Endgame, what he’s able to achieve in Infinity War is quite similar to the events depicted in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The villains of both movies essentially wanted the same thing, but which one actually got what they wanted?
Thanos’ Plan And Why It Failed
In the past, Thanos traveled to other planets, destroying half of their populations in the hopes that his efforts would bring balance to their societies. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos took his plan to another level by gathering up the Infinity Stones and assembling the Infinity Gauntlet. After finding all six, he used their combined power to erase half of all life in the universe. He firmly believed that what he was doing, despite all the pain it would case, was for the greater good. His idea was that in eliminating half of all life, he could give balance back to the universe. According to Thanos, just a snap of his fingers would get rid of over-population, allowing civilizations to flourish. With half of everyone dead, there would be enough resources to go around.
Thanos’ objective suffered from some major flaws. Wiping out half of “all” life could never bring balance. Thanos’ snap extended far beyond higher lifeforms; it included animals and plant life too. Animals and plants are valuable resources that are vital to the survival of any civilization. If half of them are gone as well, then humanity is right back where it started. Thanos was able to see his mistakes in Endgame, albeit for a different reason. He realized that his actions were wrong when he saw how people responded to what he did. He came to understand that people couldn’t forget everything that was lost, and that it would have been better if he had just erased everything and started from scratch. In short, Thanos wasted the Infinity Stones on a half-baked plan. In the end, the Earth wasn’t better off for what he did; in fact, it was worse. He didn’t save the planet at all.
Emma & Jonah’s Plan In Godzilla: King of the Monsters
In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Emma and Jonah steal the Orca and use it to wake up Rodan and King Ghidorah, who in turn wake up the rest of the Titans. Emma explains to her ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) and the others that they intended for the Titans to restore life to the world. They believed that humans have misused the planet’s resources and were instead killing it. It was their deeply held belief that the radiation from the Titans would reverse the damage caused to the environment. According to Emma, that was the original purpose of the Titans.
Emma says at one point that “the earth unleashed a fever to fight the infection” in the form of the planet’s “original and rightful rulers”, the Titans. Emma theorized that the radiation from the Titans would restore the planet’s crippled resources. Not unlike Thanos, Emma and Jonah were willing to sacrifice an untold number of innocent people for the benefit of the world. Emma was aware that what they were doing amounted to genocide but was certain that, in the end, the good would outweigh the bad. Emma felt that the planet would survive the Titans’ rampage and prosper after it was all over. It turns out, she was right.
How Godzilla’s Villains Succeeded At Saving The Planet
The Godzilla: King of the Monsters credits reveal the aftermath of Godzilla’s fight with King Ghidorah with newspaper clippings and article headlines. After Ghidorah’s death, the other Titans accepted Godzilla as the new alpha predator - the king of the monsters. With Godzilla in control, further destruction has been avoided since Godzilla is now keeping the Titans in check. With the Titans gone, the world has been given a chance to heal and a chance to examine the real impact the Titans had on the planet.
Fish populations were restored, 14 different animals on the endangered species list were removed, a rainforest is now blooming in the Sahara, sea levels are being stabilized in the Arctic, and people are using Titan waste as an energy source. In other words, Emma’s plan worked brilliantly. Emma and Jonah did exactly what they set out to do; they said the Titans’ radiation would fix the planet, and they were right. Regardless of what people think about their methods, they succeeded in revitalizing the world. The Godzilla: King of the Monsters villains actually managed to succeed where Thanos - the greatest and most powerful villain in the MCU - failed miserably.
More: Godzilla Theory: Monarch Tried To Create Kong’s Original Enemy
- Godzilla Vs Kong Release Date: 2021-03-31
