Although Apple TV+ subscribers can currently get their MonsterVerse fix by streaming Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the franchise is finally returning to the big screen later this year with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which dropped its first trailer last month. Among the interesting things highlighted in the preview was Kong wearing a mysterious mechanical glove and the introduction of an adolescent member of his species who’s nicknamed Mini-Kong. Well, some Godzilla x Kong merch has revealed both an interesting detail about the glove and what Mini-Kong’s actual name is, so let’s first discuss the latter, which is more important in my eyes.
While it’s fun to refer to that little tyke as Mini-Kong, it’s nice to learn that he’ll have an actual name in this 2024 movie release. Per one of the toys revealed by Kaiju News Outlet, he’ll be known as Suko. In the same box, you’ll also get Titanus Doug, a Titan that cameoed in Godzilla vs. Kong. It remains to be seen, though, if this Doug toy means he’ll actually appear in the new movie. If so, let’s cross our fingers he receives a little more screen time.
So who’s the person responsible for calling Mini-Kong Suko? My money’s on Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes, who’s among the returning MonsterVerse faces in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s cast. As seen in the trailer, he coins Mini-Kong, so I wouldn’t be surprised if comes up with Suko not too long afterwards. On the other hand, Suko sounds like a name that could have originated eons ago, so I could also see someone like Rebecca Hall’s Ilene Andrews coming across the name while translating some ancient language.
As for Kong’s yellow mechanical glove, another one of the Godzilla x Kong toys revealed that it’s called the B.E.A.S.T. Glove. It goes without saying that this is a manmade creation rather than something that Kong just stumbled upon while traversing Hollow Earth, but it’s unclear if B.E.A.S.T. is an acronym for the glove’s purpose or where it originates from. If it’s the latter, is B.E.A.S.T. a division of Monarch, or is it a separate entity like Apex Cybernetics?
Either way, hopefully that glove will give Kong an edge over the movie’s main antagonist, the Skar King, a fellow simian Titan who will brandish his own weapon known as Whiplash. Let’s also not forget that Godzilla is now rocking pink spines, and it’s been speculated that this is because he can now channel gamma radiation. So count on Godzilla and Kong packing more powerful punches, both figuratively and literally, when their next team-up movie rolls around.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire arrives in theaters on April 12. Remember that you can stream the first four MonsterVerse movies with a Max subscription.