Dan Stevens Returning for ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Sequel

‘I Am Mother’ director Grant Sputore is aboard for this new Monstervese outing, which is being kept mostly under wraps for now, bit promises giant beasts.

(L to R) Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews and Dan Stevens as Trapper in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Preview:

Dan Stevens is returning for a new Monsterverse movie.
He played Kong dentist Trapper in ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.’
Grant Sputore is in the director’s chair this time.

Emboldened by the success of last year’s ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,’ (it earned more than $571 million at the worldwide box office), Legendary is full speed ahead expanding its “Monsterverse” cinematic universe revolving around the likes of Godzilla, King Kong and others (Gamera is still waiting for his spotlight. Justice for Gamera!)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

"Rise together or fall alone."

PG-131 hr 55 minApr 12th, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Online

The next movie doesn’t yet have an announced title, but it’ll continue the story introduced in that film and there will be at least one human character continuing over.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dan Stevens will be back as Trapper, who we met in ‘The New Empire.’

Trapper, you may recall, was introduced wearing a loose Hawaiian shirt over a t-shirt, in ‘Godzilla x Kong’ doing dangerous dental work on Kong and replacing the big ape’s infected tooth.

This laidback veterinarian soon ends up joining the other characters on an expedition into Hollow Earth, an area that is the home to gigantic and monstrous creatures.

Stevens, of course, was brought aboard by his occasional collaborator, director Adam Wingard. Since handling the last two movies, though, Wingard has chosen not to return for this one.

Instead, Grant Sputore is in the director’s chair.

What was the story of ‘Godzilla x Kong’?

(L to R) Godzilla and Kong in Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The movie followed up the explosive showdown of ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ with an all-new cinematic adventure, pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat of a monstrous white ape hidden within our world, challenging their very existence –– and our own.

It delved further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.

The new, untitled effort is still mostly being kept under wraps, but according to the first official details, it’ll follow “several new human characters alongside the beloved and iconic Titans Godzilla and Kong as they face off against a cataclysmic world-ending threat.”

Yep, apparently, there are still some giant threats lurking out there; so the big ape and the giant lizard will have to spring into action once again. At least Kong will know his teeth will be taken care of…

Who is working on the new movie?

Kaitlyn Dever as Rosaline in 20th Century Studios' 'Rosaline,' exclusively on Hulu. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Alongside Sputore (who made his directorial debut with Netflix sci-fi thriller ‘I Am Mother’), the film will have a script from ‘Shang-Chi’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ writer Dave Callaham.

And last week, Deadline reported that the movie saw its first piece of casting as Kaitlyn Dever locked in a deal to star.

Best known for her roles in TV limited series ‘Dopesick’ and the 2019 movie ‘Booksmart,’ Dever will next star in the Netflix limited series ‘Apple Cider Vinegar,’ and will also show up in the second season of HBO’s ‘The Last of Us.’

Details on her character are also, like much of the movie, a mystery, though apparently it represents a renewed push to add in solid characters, which has been a common complaint of especially some of the more recent Monsterverse efforts.

Where else have I seen Dan Stevens?

Dan Stevens in 'Cuckoo'. Photo: Neon.

The British actor rose to fame on UK TV series ‘Downton Abbey,’ but since then has forged a healthy movie career for himself.

He’s appeared in the likes of the ‘Night at the Museum’ franchise, ‘The Guest,’ Disney’s live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and last year’s ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Abigail.’

Coming up, he has horror movie ‘The Ritual,’ ‘Swiped,’ which tells the story of Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, and action horror thriller ‘Onslaught,’ re-uniting him with Wingard.

There will also be the small screen likes of ‘The Terror’ and Robert De Niro-starring limited series ‘Zero Day.’

What has happened with the Monsterverse so far?

'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,' coming soon to Apple TV+.

Already around for a decade, Legendary’s Monsterverse follows humanity’s battle to survive in a world facing a catastrophic new reality –– the monsters of our myths and legends are real.

It all kicked off with ‘Godzilla’ in 2014 and continued through 2017’s ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ 2019’s ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters,’ 2021’s ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ and last year’s record-breaking ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.’

The Monsterverse has grossed more than $2.5 billion at the global box office and has expanded onto smaller screens via ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ for Apple TV+, which has been renewed for a second season.

When will the new Monsterverse movie be on screens?

The movie is currently scheduled for release on March 26th, 2027. Plenty of time to get to the shelters for when the next round of creature madness stomps across cities.