Yes, a Kaiju Story with No Humans CAN Work

本站添加: 2026-05-07

[00:00:01]Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am the Omni Viewer, and the debate just keeps going, doesn't it? People are once again going back and forth and back and forth about whether or not a story that is focused on the Kaiju can work, even if there are little to no humans present.

[00:00:19]And I've already said in the past, I'm in favor of the idea that somebody ought to give it a fair shot. I'm not saying that humans should never be in Kaiju movies, mind you. That seems to be one of the weird misconceptions, that people are thinking if somebody wants to see a Kaiju movie without humans in it, that must mean they want all Kaiju movies to never have humans in it, which is absolutely ridiculous. It's an exaggeration that's I think probably deliberately done. Or if it's not, then it's a mistake and you guys really need to stop doing it, because it's not something that we're saying. We're saying that we would like to see a movie that or a book or whatever that does focus on the Kaiju's perspective predominantly, with as little human interaction as possible. After all, we've got plenty of Kaiju and giant monster movies that do focus on humans or that balance the humans and monsters together. Those aren't going anywhere and nobody's going to stop making them.

[00:01:23]We just would like to see something like this because it would potentially be a nice change of pace.

[00:01:29]But there are some people who are just so adamantly against it. They keep making the same arguments over and over again, that the idea is fundamentally flawed from the outset, that we need humans there in order to know that the giant monsters are actually giant monsters, that it would be nothing but non-stop fighting. Or that the only way it could possibly work would be as a Walking with Dinosaurs type mockumentary or as an animated show for children.

[00:01:56]Those are the same four arguments I keep seeing over and over again. I have heard read them so many times that I can still see them when I close my eyes.

[00:02:07]Yep, there they are. I can see them plain as day.

[00:02:11]Now, I'm sure the people who keep repeating all this stuff probably do believe it, but the fact is, I don't think they're really seeing the bigger picture. I think they're lacking in imagination to a certain degree.

[00:02:23]Because why should those be the only absolute truths on the matter?

[00:02:29]You know, it's not like we don't have have minimal human presence at best.

[00:02:36]In fact, one that keeps coming up in discussion is the Monsterverse prequel graphic novel Godzilla Dominion. You may recall this one. This one is told entirely from Godzilla's perspective in the wake of King of the Monsters 2019.

[00:02:51]As he swims around getting the Titans into their place and searching for a new home.

[00:02:57]Now, I would suggest that you go back and read this if you have a copy. Or if you don't, get yourself a copy.

[00:03:06]And then read it.

[00:03:07]You see, this I think is actually one of those comics that actually dispels a lot of the arguments as to why this is a bad idea or why it could only work a particular way. Now, is there nothing to this book other than non-stop fighting?

[00:03:22]No, actually.

[00:03:24]Titan fights do occur throughout it, but there's more to it. We're following Godzilla as he's patrolling the world, but he's not just going around aimlessly or thoughtlessly. He is searching for a new place to call home, because his old one wound up getting destroyed. Sure, the destruction gave him an extra jolt that he needed to defeat King Ghidorah, but that was the price. He now no longer has a place to call home, and he missed that place. It was made for him, after all.

[00:03:56]And as he's going around, he's putting all the other Titans in their place, making sure that they are where they should be. And if they're not, he makes sure they get there.

[00:04:08]But he doesn't have a place of his own, and he's searching for one. And through his memories, we see that there was a place he could have called home at one point, which is very heavily implied to be Skull Island, but he was driven away from it, somewhat ironically, by a Kong creature known as the rival.

[00:04:26]I say ironically because, as mentioned, Godzilla is the one who usually drives Titans away from where they're not supposed to be. And when Godzilla was trying to find a place where he could be, he was driven away. But then the irony circles back around when he does find a place to call home at the end, and what should he find within but the rival's remains. The rival is long dead.

[00:04:47]Godzilla outlived him, and now there's nothing to stop him from claiming this new home. And of course, throughout, there are no human characters, other than a brief flashback of an image of Serizawa. And we see a couple of structures and vehicles here and there, but there are no actual human characters beyond that. The Serizawa flashback, that doesn't even include the dialogue.

[00:05:11]But that's actually very important, because, as established in King of the Monsters, this Godzilla has a particular connection to humanity, or rather, he had one in the very distant past, but that hasn't existed in a very long time.

[00:05:27]He now exists beyond where where humans dwell.

[00:05:32]And as we're reading the book, we get the sense that he misses this connection, but he ultimately has no way to reform it. So, he must go through the rest of his life, however long that may be, completely alone.

[00:05:50]Now, having heard all of that, and you can read this for yourself, like I said, but having heard all of it, does that sound like a bad story to you?

[00:05:59]It doesn't sound like a bad one to me.

[00:06:00]It doesn't sound like it's just non-stop constant fighting. It doesn't sound like Godzilla just walking around doing nothing. It sounds like Godzilla has a goal and he has a motivation, and he has his own inner thoughts. And he's also got something of a tragic backstory in a way. We get to know him a little bit better as a character, and we're getting to know him as we're following him around doing his patrols of the world, encountering other Titans, looking for a place where he can settle down again.

[00:06:35]That's interesting. This book basically defies all of the things that the naysayers claim about how a Kaiju-centric story could possibly work.

[00:06:45]It's not a silly cartoony thing for children or a mockumentary. It's not just non-stop fighting. It's not reliant on humans to be present in order for us to tell that Godzilla and these other Titans are still very large creatures.

[00:07:04]Yeah, basically all of them are shot down. It and it's not just a fundamentally flawed story. It's an interesting story, an interesting story about a giant monster that doesn't need a human being to tell it. Is that the only way that it can be done? Oh, no. I still believe there are more ways. But it's a good template, a good example of how a story can play out in a different way that you could potentially use as inspiration yourself, if you're so inclined.

[00:08:51]But there's another issue, of course, because anytime something like Godzilla Dominion or Godzilla in Hell or any of the other handful of stories that are Kaiju-centric with little to no humans in them comes up, you always get met with the counter argument of those aren't movies. We're talking about movies, and the idea couldn't work in movies because movies are the topic, not comic books. Comic books are completely different.

[00:09:17]Yeah, I also thought it was weird that these people would act as if comic books have never been adapted into movies before, either.

[00:09:25]But you know what? Having thought about it, the realm of comic books actually gives us an example of what history itself thinks of the naysayers.

[00:09:37]Now, for this we got to diverge into the realm of superheroes a bit, but trust me, this will ultimately connect to the main point.

[00:09:45]Think about the 1960s Batman series. You know, the one with Adam West and Burt Ward.

[00:09:50]Have you ever wondered why that show is the way it is? You know, so ridiculously and deliberately campy.

[00:09:59]The usual argument is because that's how the comics were at the time. It was the Silver Age, everything in the comic books was super weird. The Batman show was just adapting that.

[00:10:09]But here's the thing.

[00:10:10]Even those comics, as crazy as Silver Age comics could be, were still ultimately trying to play it straight as best as they could given the premises they were working with.

[00:10:21]The Batman show was very intentionally going for tongue-in-cheek as its tone.

[00:10:27]You can tell when you watch it.

[00:10:29]So, why was that the case? Why did they make that conscious choice to depict Batman and his mythology in that particular way?

[00:10:39]Well, here's the reason. Because at the time, it was believed that was the only way you could possibly adapt superheroes from comic books into live action.

[00:10:48]Not that there hadn't been superhero media in live action before, mind you.

[00:10:53]We had movie serials in the 1940s as well as a handful of movies based on The Shadow, although those were more mysteries than they were superhero things. But hey, The Shadow's an avenging vigilante, I think it counts.

[00:11:07]Then of course the 1950s, you had things like the George Reeves Superman show.

[00:11:11]We had other examples, that's the thing.

[00:11:14]There weren't really any {quote} superhero movies like we know them today back in the '40s and '50s. There were serials, there were TV shows.

[00:11:23]We had examples of superheroes in live action. But by the time we got to the '60s, all of those things were considered quaint and outdated. People would look back at them and think, "Oh man, the special effects and the sets look so cheap. The acting is so ham-fisted. The plots are so contrived and formulaic. There's just so much here that hasn't aged well that it's just ridiculously campy now that we're looking back at it." Now, that's not my personal opinion, mind you. I happen to like movie serials and things like that.

[00:11:56]But at the time, that's how those older works were perceived. So, when it was decided to take a chance on adapting Batman into a live-action TV show, it was decided to just cut right to the chase and intentionally make the show a campy comedic romp.

[00:12:12]Now, the show has gone through its different periods of being accepted and rejected.

[00:12:20]Comic book fans went through a very long period of absolutely despising that show because of how it depicted their favorite character and what many considered to be the greatest superhero of all time.

[00:12:31]In more recent times, the show has managed to win more people over who look back at it and think, "Yeah, it's not a dark and gritty Batman, but for what it is, we like it."

[00:12:44]But for a long time, it was considered a black mark. And the only thing more frustrating to comic book fans than the fact that the show was popular was the fact that it would set the standard for how the general public would view superheroes from that point forward.

[00:12:59]Just to add insult to injury, there was a Green Hornet show that ran at the same time. Well, the same time as the first season because that's as long as the Green Hornet show lasted. And it did try to be a little more serious. So, if that weren't proof of how the public perceived superheroes and that general concept, then I don't know what is.

[00:13:17]Essentially, the network assumed that that was the only possible way to adapt superheroes into live action, and the public agreed. So, that was the perception moving forward. So, when you got to the 1970s and a guy named Richard Donner came along and said he wanted to make a big-budget, high-profile, serious Superman movie, people scoffed at the idea. Nobody thought it was going to work. All of the skepticism you've heard about Superman and all the critiques and everything, they existed back then, too. "Really, you want us to take that guy seriously when he wears bright red undies on the outside of his pants? And how does anyone actually think that just by putting on a pair of glasses, nobody recognizes him? And his supplying looks so ridiculous. There's no way you can have that actually look real. This is going to be an absolute disaster."

[00:14:10]It wasn't a disaster. Superman: The Movie was a hit. And in fact, to this day, it is still considered the best Superman movie of all time and one of the best overall superhero movies of all time. But the quality of the sequels gradually got worse and worse, and people started to think that Superman: The Movie must have been a fluke. Okay, Richard Donner proved that it wasn't impossible to adapt superheroes to live action in a serious and sincere way, but it still wasn't probable. And superhero media going into the rest of the '70s and into the '80s continued to mostly be leaning more towards camp. The live-action Wonder Woman series with Lynda Carter maybe wasn't going for intentional camp like the Batman show, but it was still leaning in that direction. Then of course you had outright comedies like The Greatest American Hero in the 1980s. The perception continued, and by the time we got to the end of the 1980s, Tim Burton announced that he was going to make a dark and gritty and highly gothic Batman movie, and people once again scoffed at the idea. "Really? Batman?" Everybody's perception of Batman was still based on the 1960s, you understand. That character dark and gritty? Impossible.

[00:15:27]Yes, there were serious, darker Batman comics that had been printed beforehand, but those were only read by comic book nerds. Nobody listened to them.

[00:15:36]Mainstream general audiences still viewed Batman with the on-screen sound effects happening every time he hit a villain. And Tim Burton was going to make that character and make him dark and serious?

[00:15:49]And do so by casting Michael Keaton, who was mostly known for his comedies at the time?

[00:15:55]It was such a bad idea that, if memory serves, The Wall Street Journal even ran an article about how much of a disaster this was going to be. And The Wall Street Journal, or whatever financial magazine it was, doesn't generally comment on pop culture. It certainly didn't back then. So, people were bracing themselves. Once again, everybody thought this was going to be a disaster.

[00:16:17]It wasn't a disaster. Batman became one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. Once again, set the standard.

[00:16:24]Going into the 1990s, everybody wanted their own Batman.

[00:16:29]But you know what they say, history tends to repeat itself. The quality of the sequels once again gradually degraded, and as for the other comic book movies that came out at the time, well, there were plenty that tried to be sincere, but barely anybody went to see them. You know, stuff like The Rocketeer or The Shadow. Good movies, but completely ignored for the most part. But at the same time, there were other comic book movies that uh deliberately aimed for comedy, and they wound up being more successful. Stuff like The Mask, Men in Black, Mystery Men, and other movies that don't begin with the letter M.

[00:17:08]Deliberately aiming for comedy, whether that was part of the source material or not, and for some reason that seemed to work, once again reinforcing the idea that you couldn't just do a serious adaptation.

[00:17:19]Superman and Batman were coincidental flukes. And I'm not saying that any of those other movies were bad, either, mind you.

[00:17:27]But I mean, have you read the original comics The Mask is based on? It wasn't really until the very end of the '90s, after Batman had deliberately gone into camp again and completely killed all momentum for the franchise, and after Spawn tried to be super dark and edgy and just kind of flopped, which was surprising considering how important Spawn was to the '90s, well, it was after that that comic book and superhero movies suddenly started to see more and more consistent serious hits coming out. These were things like the Blade movies, the X-Men movies, the Spider-Man movies, the eventually The Dark Knight trilogy, which people were again very skeptical about given Batman's past, or one-offs like Constantine or any number of other things. Yes, there were a lot of false starts and dead ends. But the general idea that these movies were being taken more seriously was finally starting to become more and more common. It's gotten to the point where these days, if somebody's adapting a comic book into live action, doing so in a sincere and serious way is not just known to be possible, it's expected. And people tend to not react well if that doesn't happen.

[00:18:45]It took a while, mind you. And there are decades worth of superhero material that tells us people did not take the concept seriously, and the people making that work thought there was only one way to do it, and that was in a campy manner rather than a serious manner. Those people were proven wrong by the people who figured out how to do something else. The people who figured out that you could take it seriously and have it work. So, bringing it back to our point about kaiju, why is it that comics and other such media that depict kaiju only with little to no humans should be discounted from this whole argument just because they're not movies?

[00:19:30]So, what if they're not movies? The important thing is the story. And knowing that a story can be adapted from one medium to another, or even a type of story can be adapted from one medium to another. You just got to know how to do it. That's what history tells us about such ideas that are considered to be stupid.

[00:19:50]So, I'm still standing by all of this, and I'm standing by it to such a degree that I'm sick of actually trying to argue that it's possible, and I intend to actually try making it possible, or at least contribute to the process of making it possible. I am currently writing something that is a kaiju-focused story. I have only just begun. I do not want to give away too many details just yet, but it is something I am actively working on.

[00:20:20]And I don't know how it's going to turn out. I don't know if I'm going to be the person to crack the formula, or if I'm just going to be another step towards getting the formula right. But, you know what? At the end of the day, I'd rather say I put in the effort and actually try to be productive. So, that's where things currently stand. I'm actually trying to make something that is a kaiju-focused story. There are kaiju-focused stories that already exist out there. They're just not movies, but I do think that they can all be taken into consideration when considering the idea of a movie. After all, just because there are some people who don't know how it can be done, doesn't mean there is no way it can be done.

[00:21:01]There's always a way when it comes to art.

[00:21:04]Or at least, that's what I've observed.

[00:21:07]Until such time as we meet again, this is the Omni Viewer signing off.