Netflix has released the first image from Kong: Skull Island, a new anime-style series inspired by the 2017 live-action film of the same name.
The image was unveiled during the animation presentation at Netflix Geeked Week 2022. The shot shows two humans stranded on a sandy beach, potentially unaware they are standing in the middle of a Kong-sized handprint. While it was a mysterious choice on Netflix's end to not offer subscribers a look at Kong's design for the upcoming series, the impressive scale of the handprint and the stranded humans inside foreshadow a future meeting between the two very different species.
The upcoming animated series was simply titled Skull Island when it was announced to be in development alongside an anime-style Tomb Raider series in January 2021. The series will feature the adventures of shipwrecked characters trying to escape from the titular island, home to prehistoric monsters. Brian Duffield will write the series and serve as co-executive producer with Jacob Robinson. Duffield has experience writing monster-related stories, having written the screenplays for the 2020 movies Love and Monsters and Underwater.
It is unknown at this time when the upcoming series takes place in the MonsterVerse. The 2017 film was set in 1973 and focused on a group of scientists and soldiers venturing to the mysterious Skull Island, where they meet the massive Kong and the other monstrous creatures that call the island home. The animated series will be a joint venture between Legendary Television, Tractor Pants Productions, Powerhouse Animation Studios, and Netflix Animation.
The MonsterVerse remains one of Legendary Entertainment's best-performing franchises, with all film installments grossing over $100 million domestically and $375 million worldwide at the box office. The kaiju-centric cinematic universe began in 2014 with a Godzilla reboot. Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters followed in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The two titular monsters crossed over in 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong. A sequel to the 2021 monster movie is currently in the works, with Dan Stevens set to star and Adam Wingard back in the director's chair after helming Godzilla vs. Kong. An untitled live-action series centered on Godzilla and the Titans was announced in January 2022 and is slated to stream on Apple TV+. WandaVision director Matt Shakman will serve as an executive producer on the show and direct its first two episodes.
Kong: Skull Island does not yet have a release date on Netflix.
Source: Netflix