Alexander Skarsgard Reflects On Godzilla Vs. Kong Role Being Cut Down, And He Makes A Solid Point
While the main draw of the MonsterVerse movies is obviously to watch towering Titans fight each other, the fact of the matter is human characters are needed to help anchor the stories. One of those characters was Alexander Skarsgard’s Dr. Nathan Lind, who appeared in Godzilla vs. Kong (which you can access with a Max subscription). But Skarsgard ended up getting much of his role cut down, though he did make a solid point about that development while reflecting on his time in the MonsterVerse.
Ahead of his new Apple TV+ subscription-exclusive series Murderbot premiering on the 2025 TV schedule next month, Skarsgard sat down for an interview with Empire (via Comicbook), and Godzilla vs. Kong came up. The actor confirmed that Nathan Lind was supposed to have more scenes in the fourth MonsterVerse movie, saying:
There was definitely more of a backstory, more character-driven scenes that ended up on the cutting-room floor. But if you sign up to do a movie like Godzilla vs. Kong, there are only two stars in that film. And you’re not one of them.
Nathan Lind, a former Monarch geologist, entered the Godzilla vs. Kong picture with Apex Cybernetics CEO Walter Simmons recruited him for a mission to travel into Hollow Earth to find a secret power source. Nathan was chiefly paired with Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews, and the two managed to make it out of these chaotic events alive. But Nathan hasn’t been seen since, and it doesn’t sound like there are any plans to bring him back.
Alexander Skarsgard doesn’t sound too broken up about this, though. He’s well aware people were seeing Godzilla vs. Kong to watch the title monsters exchange blows with each other, and the team-up to bring down Mechagodzilla was a nice bonus. Nathan Lind may have been one of the leading human characters, but he’s there solely in service to Godzilla and Kong. So if some of his scenes need to be cut to make them shine even brighter, that’s happening. The actor also described his collaborative process with director Adam Wingard thusly:
Adam Wingard, the director, and I, can play around and come up with weird quirky shit, and add layers of character work. But at the end of the day, if they’re gonna cut down the film, Skarsgard will end up on the floor, not Godzilla or Kong. So I totally get it, and, you know, the movie works. It didn’t need more Skarsgärd.
So far, no actor in the MonsterVerse film series has appeared in more than two movies, and while I’d like that to change someday, again, the Titans are the priority. However, if you’re looking for a solid character-driven story in this franchise, I recommend watching the show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, which is returning for a second season and can be found on Apple TV+. You’ll still get to see Godzilla and various other Titans, but here, the humans are just as important to the tale being told.
Next up on the MonsterVerse cinematic front is the yet-to-be-titled sequel to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Kaitlyn Dever, Dan Stevens (reprising Trapper), Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Matthew Modine and Alycia Debnam-Carey star in this Grant Sputore-directed feature coming out on March 26, 2027.
