Godzilla vs. Kong: Who Will Win?

The battle of the ages we have waiting for since the MonsterVerse kick-started in 2014 with the Godzilla reboot is now just around the corner.

First announced in 2015, it has been a long wait for kaiju fans but it is almost time to see two titans fight in an epic showdown in the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong.

And of course the question we are all asking is ‘who will win?’ Especially since director Adam Wingard has promised fans that there will be a definitive winner!

People are either Team Godzilla or Team Kong, there is no in-between, and so things have been heating up at Zavvi HQ recently as we gear up for the anticipated fight.

We therefore thought it would be fun for two of our writers, one from Team Godzilla and one from Team Kong, to face-off against each other in a battle to rival that of the titans’ own.

After reading their arguments, vote for who you think will win at the very end. Will you choose Godzilla or Kong?

Why Godzilla Will Win

By Joseph Kime

Warner Bros. Pictures

A lot of people seem to think that Godzilla’s met his match. Kong proved his mettle in Kong: Skull Island and has made himself up to be a formidable foe for any beast who stands in his way.

And now that he’s had his wee growth spurt, many think he’ll be able to take on the child of the atomic bomb. I, for one, don’t.

Many have been convinced that Kong’s immense growth is enough to make him a fair adversary to Godzilla, but big G has more than proven that size means nothing to it.

Godzilla’s toppling of King Ghidorah in 2019’s King Of The Monsters has proven that a beast of any size still can’t contest with them, even with a skillset like Ghidorah’s.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Plus, considering the immense power that Ghidorah showed in that film, can we confidently say that Kong is the beast to bring Godzilla down? He certainly doesn’t shape up against a foe of such incredible power at first glance, at least from his appearance in Skull Island.

And with Godzilla’s triumph over the challenger for the title of king of the monsters, there’s surely no way Kong will be the big bad to finally send the fabled Gojira to their watery grave.

As is the case with Godzilla, over its many iterations in various different eras of cinema, each take on the character has its own unique abilities and appearance.

This version of the beast that appeared first in 2014’s Godzilla possesses huge physical strength, a devastating atomic beam and after taking on large amounts of energy in King Of The Monsters, can deploy huge EMP-like thermonuclear blasts from its abdomen.

Warner Bros. Pictures

And there are abilities possessed by other interpretations of the beast, or even entirely new skills, that Godzilla could have that we haven’t even seen yet. Something tells me a big monkey isn’t quite going to take Godzilla down with ease with an arsenal like this.

Additionally, if we can say anything for certain, it’s that the monsters’ first meeting at sea is not going to go the way Kong wants it to. The sequence teased as the first meeting of the kaiju is on water, with Kong chained to a military boat.

A restrained Kong couldn’t possibly contend with the beast there, as Godzilla can swim at 40 knots an hour. The titan was born at sea to intense outpourings of radiation, so there’s no feasible way Kong can come out on top so far away from dry land.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Even considering the massive strength buff Kong must have gained due to his immense increase in size, it’s still not enough to manage the dominance asserted by Godzilla.

They’ve been dubbed the king of the monsters for a reason, and they’ve earned that title time and time again. It wasted the MUTOs in 2014’s Godzilla, dominated the likes of Ghidorah and Rodan in King Of The Monsters, and will no doubt be tearing monsters to pieces in the future.

And even as the big fan of monkeys that I am, Kong doesn’t stand a chance against the king of the monsters.

Why Kong Will Win

By Maria Lattila

Warner Bros. Pictures

While both Godzilla and King Kong are undeniably powerful, only one can emerge victorious and this writer’s money is on Kong to let out that final roar.

This isn’t to say Godzilla won’t put up a good fight and the kaiju might seem the logical winner at first, thanks to its atomic breath and spiky tail, but ultimately Godzilla will go down at the hands of the true king of monsters.

Let’s face it, Godzilla is just a moody lizard that runs around destroying buildings while Kong is a much more refined fighter.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Even in the 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla, it was Kong who ultimately emerged from the Pacific Ocean as the winner. Godzilla has the higher ground when in water and in the film’s trailer the pair encounters each other in the middle of the ocean, but we can safely assume most of the action will take place on land where Kong will have the upper hand.

In Kong: Skull Island, John C. Reilly’s Marlow notes that Kong isn’t fully grown yet and since Jordan Vogt‐Roberts’ film is set in the ’70s while Godzilla vs. Kong takes place in modern day, Kong will now match Godzilla in size and even gets a very satisfying punch right in the kaiju’s face in the trailer.

Kong also has several crucial advantages such as opposable thumbs and greater agility. Being an ape, Kong can grab and use weapons, thanks to his human‐like dexterity in the hand department.

Warner Bros. Pictures

We’ve already seen him craft a battle axe from what could be one of Godzilla’s back spikes and thus is incredibly durable and lethal, even able to stop Godzilla’s one big move, the atomic breath, in its tracks.

Even if Zilla can grab things, his short arms and build make the lizard like a puffed‐out T‐Rex, and we all know Kong can take the dino, easily. Kong’s ability to craft weapons also demonstrates the ape’s ability to strategise.

Kong has always had deeply human traits with modern films having emphasised his humanity. The new movie sees Kong forge a deep bond with a child, once again giving Kong something to defend and protect. We want Kong to win because he’s both a terrifying monster and something much more human.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Godzilla will give Kong a run for his money, but it will be the monkey who walks away as the winner. Something tells us it won’t be quite as simple as just two monsters battling it out for glory, but whatever the reasons behind Godzilla’s warpath, Kong will be able to handle it.