MONSTER MASH-UP
Godzilla, King Kong set to clash as movie's castmates choose sides
Godzilla vs. Kong opens Wednesday
When we last spoke, Millie Bobby Brown assured us there would be a definitive winner when Godzilla meets King Kong in a battle of the two cinematic titans. But ringing in on a video call, Brown, joined by her castmate Julian Dennison, says she's still not sure who the ultimate victor will be when Godzilla vs. Kong opens this week.
“I don't know,” she replies, smiling, when asked if she was surprised at who the eventual champ is. “I have no idea what the outcome is.”
Godzilla vs. Kong expands on Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse, and follows 2014's Godzilla reboot, 2017's Kong: Skull Island and 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters. But when the monster throwdown crashes into theatres Wednesday, one primordial beast will be the unanimous victor.
The clash of the titans follows Kong and a group of human protectors (led by Alexander Skarsgård and Rebecca Hall), as they search for his true home. But along the way, the caravan finds itself a target of an angry Godzilla after he's set on a path of destruction by unseen forces at the secretive research agency known as Monarch.
Brown, who appears as Eleven on Netflix's spooky thriller Stranger Things, reprises her role as Madison Russell, a teenager, who in King of the Monsters found herself caught in a battle between Godzilla and a battery of giant-sized rivals, including his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed Ghidorah.
“This is one of the biggest movie franchises in the world, and Godzilla is one of the biggest Hollywood stars in the world, literally,” Brown says.
Brown, 17, hits the road with Dennison's Josh Valentine and Brian Tyree Henry's Bernie Hayes, two fellow conspiracy-obsessed internet sleuths who try to uncover the real reason for Godzilla's unreasoned fury.
The monster rumble comes from director Adam Wingard, best known for his indie horror projects You're Next and The Guest, as well as a reboot of the Blair Witch Project.
Brown said she liked getting a chance to develop the character over two films with a new chapter and a new storyline.
“She's going through an emo phase,” Brown quips. “But this time around Madison's found her voice and she knows what she wants.”
For his part, Dennison, who had breakout roles in Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Deadpool 2, Godzilla vs. Kong represents a chance to work on a big tentpole action movie.
“It's a big film,” the New Zealand-native says. “There's a lot of moving parts toward the third act.”
Having experience with the world of monsters from her time on Stranger Things, Brown says finding herself in the middle of the kaiju-on-kaiju action featuring some of the most famous movie beasts didn't scare her because she was able to discern the humanity in Godzilla.
“I found a love for him,” she says. “But with Stranger Things, the Demogorgon just freaks me out.”
Still, she has a pretty savvy business reason for being on Team Godzilla.
“I'm rooting for Godzilla because he was the first guy that hired me for a movie, so I got to be grateful for that,” she says, smiling.
But there isn't much room left on Team Godzilla. When Dennison tries to pledge allegiance to the fire-breathing dragon, Brown accuses him of being a fair-weather fan.
“Mark, he's lying to you!” Brown exclaims. “He's told everyone else, `It's King Kong,' now he's trying to change it.”
“I'm not changing it,” Dennison replies, as the two banter back and forth. “I love Godzilla. He's a giant lizard and he has disproportionate arms to his body. I love that.”
Brown lets out an incredulous gasp. “You said you hated that.”