The More I Think About Hedorah As The Potential Villain In Godzilla Minus Zero, The More OK I Am With It
Last year, I wrote about what would make the upcoming Godzilla Minus Zero the perfect sequel, and one of my key points was that I did not want any other kaiju in the movie. The King of the Monsters was enough. However, recent speculation has brought up one interesting Godzilla villain in particular that I didn’t have on my bingo card for 2026, and that’s Hedorah.
Now, even though I was really adamant before about how I didn’t want to see any other kaiju in this sequel, I’m actually kind of warming up to the idea of Hedorah being in this next movie, and for a number of reasons. Here are just a few.
Hedorah Has Always Been Kind Of Silly, But I Want To See A Badass Version
I love Godzilla with my full heart and soul. So, with that being the case, I’ve seen every Godzilla movie (yes, even the animated ones) as well as every Godzilla era, and what I can say is that every movie and era has something to offer. Now, that being said, I will also admit that some eras are stronger than others, with the Heisei period often being considered the most consistently good. I have a definite soft spot for the first major era – that being Showa – and for a number of reasons.
It definitely has its faults, though, with one of them being that Godzilla kind of changed dramatically throughout that period. He started out as terrifying, but gradually became more kid-friendly over the years, with Godzilla even becoming a hero of sorts. Well, in 1971, we got Godzilla vs. Hedorah, a.k.a., Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster in the U.S., and this is one of the silliest Godzilla movies of all time.
Hedorah is an alien that falls to Earth, and it eats all of this toxic waste that humankind has created. Doing so makes it grow more powerful, until it becomes a “smog monster” (hence the U.S. title). And, like, cool, I can dig a monster created from humankind’s follies. Godzilla himself was awoken and mutated when people were doing nuclear bomb tests. So, it’s like two creatures that humankind accidentally created battling each other.
But, no matter the appearance (and there have only been a few), Hedorah has always been kind of silly, what with his sludgy form, ability to fly, and overall attacks. However, Godzilla Minus One is one of the most serious and dramatic Godzilla movies of all time (and my personal favorite), and I’d really love to see what the film’s director, Takashi Yamazaki (who is a big fan of Hedorah) could do to make this typically silly kaiju fit inside the Godzilla universe that he created with Minus One. In fact, I REALLY want to see it. This could be like Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of The Joker, which I’ll get into in a moment.
We Have Seen Mechagodzilla, Ghidorah, And Other Godzilla Villains To Death Already, But NOT Hedorah
You know what would be really boring for the sequel to Godzilla Minus One? If Godzilla fought King Ghidorah. Or Mechagodzilla. Or Mothra. Look, it’s not that I don’t like any of those aforementioned characters. I do! I love all of them (especially Mothra). But I’ve SEEN them before, and countless times. King Ghidorah was brought into the MonsterVerse in the very second Godzilla movie, as was Mothra, and Rodan. Mechagodzilla (AND King Kong!) were brought in for Godzilla vs. Kong, so it’s like, okay! I get it. They’re popular!
Going back to The Dark Knight, it’s like making a new Batman movie and The Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin, or Catwoman are one of your main villains. Yeah, you could do that, but WHY? We’ve already gotten multiple movies featuring them, and unless you’re going to swing for the fences like Nolan did with The Joker, why bother? Give us Professor Pyg! Give us Calendar Man! Give us Hush!
Well, the same could be said for Godzilla, and I’m really excited for Hedorah if that’s who we’re actually getting in Godzilla Minus Zero, because we rarely see him. He was, of course, in the 1971 movie that bears his name, but he was also in Godzilla: Final Wars for a blink and you’ll miss him moment. He was also spoken about in the anime, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (and created by China, no less), and there was a 2021 short featuring him. But, besides video games and books (and apparently a Japanese show I’ve never seen before called Godzilla Island), that’s pretty much it for everybody’s favorite smog monster.
So, another movie featuring him – especially one that’s going to potentially be as good as Godzilla Minus Zero – would actually be really cool. Hedorah is like Godzilla’s version of Poison Ivy. Or better yet, for obscurity’s sake, Godzilla’s Condiment King.
I Would Be Fascinated With How The Concept Of Smog And Waste Can Be Incorporated Following The Events Of Minus One
I know I keep bringing up Batman, but I can’t help it! For me, there are good Batman movies, and there are great ones, and when ranking them, I think most people would agree that The Dark Knight is No. 1. Well, Godzilla Minus One is The Dark Knight of Godzilla movies, and by that I mean of the highest caliber, of course.
But, I also mean something else as well, as Christopher Nolan kind of deconstructed the Batman mythos, and recontextualized it in a realistic setting. So, instead of Bane cartoonishly hulking out on Venom like he did in Batman & Robin (which hey, I kind of love), we got a more realistic Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Instead of a whimsical Joker like Jack Nicholson (which is actually my favorite version of the character), we got more of a nihilistic sociopath in The Dark Knight. In other words, Nolan made these familiar characters unique.
And, I think Takashi Yamazaki may do something similar with Hedorah. Given the realistic approach he took with Godzilla in Minus One, I can envision him really leaning into the more realistic aspects of Hedorah being created from the waste and smog left over from the war.
I also imagine that keeping with the grounded approach of the last movie, Hedorah won’t be some silly alien, but rather, something that was spawned from Earth, and is also an Earth-destroyer. At least, I hope so anyway.
Lastly, I Just Like The Idea Of Godzilla Turning Good In This Movie
Truth be told, my favorite Godzilla is an evil one, but I trust Yamazaki after Minus One, and if he decides to make him a force for good in the sequel, then I’d like to see his approach.
Because the kaiju is at his most heroic in the original Godzilla vs. Hedorah, actually fighting for humankind and nearly dying by trying to disassemble the smog monster. In fact, the humans actually try to help Godzilla, and if not for their combined efforts, Hedorah would likely never have been defeated. I’d love if the characters from the last movie actually work to aid Godzilla in defeating a new threat. I think that could work.
I know the MonsterVerse approached having a “heroic” Godzilla in the 2014 film, but I never really thought it worked. Perhaps Toho could do a better job with it, and I think Hedorah is the perfect antagonist to get a cool hero turn out of the Big G.
What do you think? Godzilla Minus Zero releases on November 6th in the U.S., and on Godzilla Day, which is November 3rd, in Japan.
