‘Godzilla at 70’ SDCC Panel: Full Rundown

Toho International made their big splash this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, showcasing various licensees, partners, and special guests at their Godzilla at 70: Seven Decades of the King of the Monsters panel during the massive event. While there was no massively breaking news at this panel like the rumors claimed, there was still a great enthusiasm in the air and a celebration of all things Godzilla, and the various was we can all collectively enjoy the King of the Monsters across all mediums. Moderated by Drew Taylor from The Wrap, Toho assembled Shin Godzilla co-director Shinji Higuchi, Brian Flynn, Founder of Super7, Peter Santa, Senior Director of Creative and Product Development at Mondo, and Jeff Gordon, Director, Franchise and Retail Brand Development at Bandai, as well as top comic publishing partners, DC Comics, Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong writer Brian Buccellato, and Jake Williams, IDW’s Godzilla Editor.

The panel began with a showcase of what Godzilla’s top licensees are up to and what is coming out relatively soon, beginning with the toys and collectibles end of things. Up first was Jeff Gordon at Bandai, who showcased various product lines, including the Movie Monster Series line of figures, as well as a newer line, the MASTERLISE line by ICHIBANSHO. Those figures are known for their high quality and expert-level detail. Bandai has a major presence at this year’s SDCC, being the official home of the “Godzilla booth” at the show, with famed community cosplayer Sean Sumagaysay being featured there as part of a Godzilla meet & greet.

When Bandai concluded their portion of the talk, it was time for Peter Santa to begin his portion of the panel. He’s otherwise known as Attack Peter and is one of the Senior Directors of Creative Development over at Mondo. Peter showed off all the various things Mondo has done, including high-end art figures like the Urban Aztec Godzilla and Ghidorah, various art prints (even highlighting and shouting out the legendary Bob Eggleton for his Godzilla vs. Biollante poster print), and vinyl records. Santa also dived into the various inspirations behind some of the figures, commenting that the toys we got from yesteryear of Godzilla have inspired them to make these collectibles for adults, like the Trendmasters-colored Spacegodzilla sofubi figure. After that, Mr. Santa concluded his portion by rejoicing open appreciation to the individuals at Toho for their flexibility in what they can do with the Godzilla character and licensed, and hinted at more to come.

After Peter, the last toys & collectibles licensee was up: Brian Flynn, owner and founder of Super7. Brian has had a busy weekend, and it was definitely showcased in this panel. On screen were Super7’s various line of Godzilla collectibles, ranging from Japanese vinyl-inspired figures like their “Fun! Fun!” line to the more articulated “Ultimates” line of Godzilla figures being highlighted. Brian’ Of course, Brian also remarked upon the amazing Godzilla Station pop-up takeover down the street, using his time at the end of his portion to urge panel attendees to go visit while experiencing San Diego Comic-Con.

Next on the panel’s agenda was the comic book side of things, featuring Brian Buccellatto (Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong) and IDW’s own Eisner Award-winning Godzilla Editor, Jake Williams. Each discussed the latest issue that will hit markets in their Godzilla worlds, as JLvsGvsK II brings DC heroes and villains into Legendary’s MonsterVerse world, and the new Kai-Sei era of Godzilla is a totally original universe that shapes the icon in a way that benefits the medium of comics itself.

Brian discussed the epic crossover appeal of Godzilla facing the Justice League, and showcased some great covers and panels for the upcoming fourth issue, due out in two weeks on August 6th. With Issue #4 on the horizon, Brian recalled a lot of fan outrage over the results of Superman facing off against the King of the Monsters, and told fans not to worry, as a rematch will be happening very soon, and they will be pleased at the winner.

Jake Williams’ approach to highlighting Godzilla’s comics was to showcase the three main titles in their new Kai-Sei Universe. Godzilla #1 released this Wednesday, so Jake had some slides of Godzilla’s new look, panels highlighting the overall style and vibe of this new ongoing book, and a few review quotes from various comic sites. He also went into Escape the Dead Zone and Starship Godzilla, adding that these comics are in the same universe, but can be read separately. However, there are plans to fuse story beats between all of them down the road.

Next up was one of the Visual FX Supervisors behind AppleTV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Sean Konrad, who took us through a journey in designing one of the original Kaiju featured in the show, the Ion Dragon. He remarked that they “didn’t want to have a Game of Thrones-esque dragon” as it is pretty much in the popular culture osmosis, but still wanted something that felt realistic and less alien-like compared to some of the monsters featured in the MonsterVerse’s earlier tie-in comics.

After all of our guest speakers were done, we were finally introduced to the guest of honor: Shin Godzilla Co-director Shinji Higuchi. Entering the stage to much applause, the audience then got to experience the trailer for the upcoming 4K restoration of Shin Godzilla, due out in theatres on August 14th. Higuchi-san then commented a bit about the movie celebrating its ten-year anniversary next year, the steps they took to ensure a very Japanese film, yet balancing the CGI because they “didn’t have the resources like big budget Hollywood productions do.”

Interestingly, the moderator of the panel stated, “I want to see what happens next,” after the trailer for the 4K transfer of Shin played, with one of the panelists remarking quickly and humorously that Godzilla’s parent company may not like that very much. It’s definitely something interesting to think about amongst all the rumors and speculation behind a potential sequel to the 2016 film, as Bloomberg reported it, but like all great rumors, was proven to not be the case, at least at this panel.

The panel’s moderator then attempted to open the floor to at least one fan question, but before he could choose somebody, a special surprise guest emerged from behind the curtain… O’Shea Jackson Jr., star of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and a massive Godzilla fan himself! He remarked that his favorite Godzilla film was indeed the 2019 flick, and then asked each panelist which of their favorite Godzilla films were, with Higuchi-san saying, “I don’t want to come off as a sellout to the American audience, but it is Godzilla vs. Megalon!” Some of the other choices included 1984’s The Return of Godzilla, 2016’s Shin Godzilla, 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, 1971’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah, and finally, to much surprise, Jeff Gordon’s answer was the 1998 Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick, because he saw the film with his uncle and it was the first Godzilla film he ever saw in theatres.

After everyone gave their answers, to conclude the epic panel, Peter Santa had a few figures to give away to some lucky fans who could answer some trivia questions, one of which has yet to be released. Needless to say, there was a lot to feature in the world of Godzilla at the largest convention of them all, and having O’Shea appear at the end was a nice surprise. Here’s to 70 years of Godzilla, and to all the ways we can enjoy the King of the Monsters.