Summary

• Godzilla is the clear winner in the battles against Kong, showcasing his superior power and invincibility.
• Despite losing the fights, Kong still plays a crucial role in the story, defeating Mechagodzilla and earning the title of "King Kong".
• The battles between Godzilla and Kong have reshaped their power dynamic and created an uneasy truce, setting up the sequel where they will team up against a new antagonist, the Scar King.

Who wins in Godzilla vs Kong was the biggest question surrounding the 2021 MonsterVerse movie prior to its release, as the two literal titans of cinema going head-to-head was one of the most highly anticipated movie showdowns of the 21st Century so far. While Godzilla and King Kong are the MonsterVerse's two most iconic monsters, one is clearly more powerful than the other. While Godzilla was viewed as humanity's friend and savior in both Gareth Edwards' Godzilla and Michael Dougherty's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Adam Wingard's film flips the story and makes him the villain, meaning Kong has to take up arms against the King of the Monsters and defend humanity.

The first fight between Godzilla and King Kong in the MonsterVerse takes place in the middle of the ocean during Monarch's journey to their facility in Antarctica. Godzilla tracked down and attacked Kong, since he viewed the Skull Island Titan as a threat to his alpha status. Godzilla won that battle and left once he believed Kong was no longer a threat, but that truce only remained until Kong picked up and charged his ax down in the Hollow Earth. With sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on the way, the outcome of the battle between Godzilla and Kong has never been more important for the MonsterVerse.

Who Wins In Godzilla Vs. Kong

Godzilla Beats King Kong In The 2021 Movie

In their second and final fight in Hong Kong, Godzilla defeated Kong, despite the fact that Dr. Nathan Lind believed Kong initially won the second round. Kong showed great skill in thwarting Godzilla's atomic breath attacks, but in the end, the explosion caused by the ax only temporarily disoriented Godzilla — it didn't defeat him.

Godzilla came back and beat Kong, which makes sense given Kong's wounds and Godzilla's nigh-invincibility, as well as his ability to absorb radiation to recharge himself. But rather than kill him like he did the MUTOs and Ghidorah, Godzilla initially left Kong to succumb to his wounds. Later, he forced Kong to accept him as the Alpha Titan, but Mechagodzilla threw a wrench in that plan.

Godzilla was the actual winner of both battles between Godzilla and King Kong, but after Kong helped him defeat Mechagodzilla, Godzilla left Kong alone after the primate king dropped the ax. When Kong did that, Godzilla knew Kong was no longer a threat to him, and both seemingly accepted each other.

Godzilla remains the King of the Monsters on the surface, while Kong is now the King of the Hollow Earth in the subterranean world. This way, they can both coexist as Alpha Titans in separate worlds. Furthermore, the one aspect solidifying Godzilla's victory is Kong's near-death experience. If it wasn't for Dr. Lind and the HEAVs energy pulse, Kong would've died for good.

Why Godzilla Needed Kong In The Ending

The Godzilla Vs Kong Fight Turned Into An Alliance

Even though Kong put up an incredible fight against Godzilla twice, he still couldn't win out in the end. But what's interesting is that the movie still gives him a win. Kong uses his ax — courtesy of being supercharged by Godzilla's atomic breath — to kill Mechagodzilla, thereby defeating both a version of Godzilla and Ghidorah combined. When it comes to the Alpha Titan status, however, Godzilla won, and though he didn't make Kong bow to him, Kong accepted the fact that he didn't win (even if he didn't explicitly lose). Ultimately, it was a thematic victory for Godzilla.

In a Reddit AMA promoting Godzilla vs Kong, director Adam Wingard weighed in on who was the definitive victor in the movie, saying "Godzilla def won. He killed Kong. Kong was revived. I consider the Mecha battle was outside of that. As they say: Godzilla won the fight, Kong won the movie." It's no wonder Wingard believes Godzilla to be the winner. After all, Godzilla has been the star of the MonsterVerse since its inception.

Of course, Kong's future seems bright now that he is close to earning the title of "King Kong", but if the world needs a force of nature to protect it, Godzilla will be the one true Titan who will measure up to the task.

How The Godzilla Vs. King Kong Final Battle Sets Up The Sequel

The Godzilla Vs. Kong Fight Being Close Was Incredibly Important

The Godzilla vs. Kong final battle ends with Kong ruling over the Hollow Earth and Godzilla taking the surface, which sets up the next sequel in several major ways. The fight between Godzilla and King Kong effectively changed the power dynamic between the two. Their competition has seemingly been resolved, with both MonsterVerse characters being given their own domain. This uneasy truce and unlikely alliance is important for the upcoming sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

The sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong will see the two titans squaring up against a new antagonist — the Scar King, a rival Ape titan in the Hollow Earth. The trailers have already revealed the significance of the Godzilla vs. Kong fight. Even though Godzilla beat Kong, the battle was by no means one-sided, and it's clear that Titans of Kong's species, especially thanks to their intelligence, could be an issue for the King of the Monsters.

From the trailers, it seems that the Scar King is more powerful than Kong, which means the new villain will also be a problem for Godzilla. While Godzilla is content with Kong holding dominion over the Hollow Earth, the same doesn't look to be true of the Scar King, and it seems that the same reasons Kong held his own against Godzilla are why the two will need to team up in the sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong.