Godzilla: King Of The Monsters: New Trailer Reveals The Titans

It's almost time for the return of the King.

Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures released a new trailer for this summer's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and it promises to give fans exactly what they want — monsters, and lots of them. The spot appeared this morning on Warner Brothers Pictures' YouTube channel.

We get our first look at Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell, a teenager caught in the three-way struggle between the mighty Godzilla, the mysterious Monarch agency, and a trio of new beasts whom fans of Toho's iconic kaiju pictures are sure to completely freak out over. For those who criticized 2014's Godzilla (the first entry in Legendary's MonsterVerse) for being too light on... well, Godzilla, fear not. The sequel looks to feature more destructive monster brawls than you can shake a skyscraper-sized stick at, so let's get into the meat of this new trailer.

It opens with Madison, all alone in what appears to be some kind of military facility, desperately trying to contact someone over the radio. Before she can say who, however, she's cut off by a deafening buzzing noise from somewhere in her immediate vicinity. This is intercut with an overhead shot of the citizenry fleeing through the streets of a metropolitan center in panic, and a gigantic, conspicuously avian-esque shadow darkening several city blocks.

Then, we hear a voiceover of an unidentified character whom we see addressing the Senate. "Senators," he says, "we believe that these Titans are just the tip of the iceberg. Which of these Titans are here to protect us, and which of these Titans are here to threaten us?" During the voiceover, we get several quick, provocative shots: a ginormous something emerging from an erupting volcano; an oilfield exploding skyward as giant talons rip forth from the Earth; and a network of scaffolding surrounding a titanic block of ice, in which can be seen the distinct outline of the three-headed King Ghidorah.

So far, so awesome, but the trailer is just warming up. We see some military aircraft fleeing before an obscured, winged creature which is almost certainly Rodan (whom we then get a slightly better look at as it buzzes the streets of a large city) and a group of scientists and/or soldiers dwarfed by what appears to be a giant larva. (Hello, baby Mothra!) This is followed by an amazing, clear shot of Ghidorah before we return to the Senate chamber.

"So, you want to make Godzilla our pet?" One Senator asks incredulously, prompting uneasy laughter from her peers. It's at this point that Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (the great Ken Watanabe) speaks up. "No," he says, "we would be his."

Then, the big payoff. We see Ghidorah attacking a military aircraft, an amazing shot of Mothra streaking toward the Earth, and Godzilla preparing to face off with Ghidorah. From there, it's simply monsters and destruction galore, leading up to the spot's final moments. In the middle of the city, Godzilla (the spines on his back glowing with a bluish energy) and Ghidorah rush toward each other, and we cut to black just as they engage.

It's been a pretty spectacular week or so for trailers, and it's tough to upstage the one for Avengers: Endgame which nearly broke YouTube late last week — but this spot is simply exciting as all get-out. Light as it may have been on monster action, Godzilla was still a very good film, and Kong: Skull Island upped the ante with an interesting '70s setting, a stellar cast featuring the likes of John C. Reilly, Brie Larson, and Samuel L. Jackson, and heaping helpings of Kong. It also featured a post-credits sequence teasing the appearance of all of the above-mentioned Titans, and it's now obvious that this was no fake-out.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters likewise did not skimp on its cast. It includes Vera Farmiga of the Conjuring series, Game of Thrones' Charles Dance, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's Ziyi Zhang, and Straight Outta Compton's O'Shea Jackson, Jr. (son of Ice Cube), in addition to Brown and Watanabe.

If viewers had any doubt as to whether the MonsterVerse was shaping up to be special, this trailer should put those doubts squarely to rest. Everybody's favorite green, scaly behemoth looks to be in for the fight of his life, and he won't get much time to recover — Godzilla vs. Kong is on tap for 2020, which will bring the two iconic Titans together onscreen for the first time since 1962.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters hits the big screen on May 31, 2019.