It’s a great time to be a Godzilla fan.
The MonsterVerse - aka Legendary Entertainment’s version of theMCU, but featuring giant monsters - has been bringing together a mix of original monster characters and reimagined versions of classic monsters from film history, most notably those from the Godzilla and King Kong franchises. The most recent film in the series, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, was a roaring success at the box office, grossing 560 million worldwide. That almost guarantees another entry in the series with that films director, Adam Wingard, already talking about what he’d like to do with another sequel. In addition a second season of the Apple TV+ series Monach: Legacy of Monsters is also in the works.
Oh, and there’s a new Japanese Godzilla film, Godzilla Minus One, which came out at the end of 2023 and won an Oscar for best special effects.
Unfortunately, Godzilla Minus One isn’t part of the Legendary MonsterVerse universe, which started in 2014 with the release of Godzilla. With all this fresh giant fire-breathing lizard content, we thought it would be a good idea to round up the Godzilla films, including the classics, so you know how to watch them all in chronological order.
How to watch all the Marvel movies and TV shows in chronological order
The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 and is still going strong. Here’s the entire MCU timeline, shows and movies included.
How to watch the MonsterVerse Godzilla movies in chronological order
Godzilla is a lot like modern comic superheroes. Not that Godzilla is similar toBatmanorSupermanas a character, but all of them have film adaptations going back to the 1950s. So Godzilla, like Batman and Superman, has gone through a few iterations, which can make it hard to narrow down to a simple watchlist for every Godzilla movie. The best way to watch them all chronologically is to separate them into the different eras of Godzilla films.
Jump to the bottom of our guide to see other Godzilla movie orders listed, spoiler-free. We’ve even listed every Godzilla movie ever made for the ultra-dedicated to binge during their rewatch.
We’ve fleshed out our guide with Legendary’s most recent MonsterVerse films. After that, you’ll find listed chronological orders for the classic Toho-produced Japanese films (that have also been rebooted twice). You’ll also find handy, at-a-glance, spoiler-free guides for the other eras of Godzilla films.
There are two standalone films, the recently released Godzilla Minus One and the 1998 version of Godzilla from TriStar, which are re-tellings of Godzilla’s origin story. In terms of where they’d fit in chronologically, neither go with the MonsterVerse plotline. But Godzilla Minus One would work as a new jumping-off point for the original Godzilla films since it’s set 10 years before the first film, and its portrayal of Godzilla as the antagonist aligns more with the earliest Godzilla films.
There may be spoilers below
1Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
The history of the MonsterVerse
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
Years in the MonsterVerse: 1950s and 2015
The Apple TV spin-off series jumps between the origin of the Monster hunting organization known as Monarch in the 1950s and the aftermath of Godzilla’s attack on San Francisco in 2014.
Monarch: The Legacy of Monsters premiered in November 2023; four episodes have aired.
This is the most challenging entry to place in the MonsterVerse because it shifts between the creation of Monarch in the 1950s and a survivor of Godzilla’s attack on San Francisco in 2014. We’re placing it first in our order because the 1950s scenes provide the backstory for the Monarch organization that’s present throughout the rest of the films. The series also shows how the US military attempted to kill Godzilla in 1952, which led to him staying dormant until 2014.
There are some very minor spoilers for the 2014 Godzilla film in the scenes set in 2015.
Anders Holm’s character of Bill Randa, who helped to found Monarch in the 50s, also appears in the next film in our watch order.
2Kong: Skull Island
Humans meet Kong for the first time
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Year in the MonsterVerse: 1973
Set in 1973, the head of Monarch assembles a team to search for massive organisms on a recently discovered Skull Island.
This film picks up in 1973, with Bill Randa (played by John Goodman), now the head of Monarch, assembling a team to check out Skull Island, where he believes he can prove his hollow Earth hypothesis. Randa brings a Vietnam vet, a tracking specialist, played by Tom Hiddleston, and an anti-war photographer, played by Brie Larson. They also brought along with him a small army led by Samuel L. Jackson’s Preston Packard.
Shortly after the group gets to the island, they have an encounter with Kong that turns their expedition into a fight for survival.
Max Borenstein helped write this movie and 2014’s Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Kong.
Godzilla re-emerges to fight big monsters
Godzilla (2014)
When two insect monsters awaken and begin rampaging towards one another in an effort to breed, Godzilla is the only hope to stop them.
This is the film that started the MonsterVerse.
It sees a global race against time erupt when two insects-like monsters emerge and begin stomping their way toward one another. Making matters a little more destructive, Godzilla is on their trail. This film has a little bit more of a somber tone than the later films in the series, as it follows Bryan Cranston’s Joe Brady search for the cause of the nuclear accident that took his wife’s life, but it was still a huge success that grossed $529 million.
4Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Three-headed Ghidora challenges Godzilla
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Year in the MonsterVerse: 2019
A plot from within Monarch begins, awakening monsters, including the three-headed monster Ghidorah, who wants to destroy the world. The only one that can stop him is Godzilla.
King of the Monsters sees Dr. Mark Russel (Kyle Chandler) reluctantly return to Monarch following his wife and daughter’s abduction at the hands of eco-terrorists who want to awaken every titan in the belief it will help heal the Earth. Unfortunately, one of the first titans they decide to wake up is King Ghidorah, a three-headed alien monster that wants to terraform the planet for itself. With all the other monsters kneeling to Ghidorah, Godzilla is the only titan left to fight.
5Godzilla vs. Kong
Godzilla and Kong face-off
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
Year in the MonsterVerse: 2024
An insidious corporation manipulates both Godzilla and Kong, leading the two towards a showdown for the ages.
This globe-trotting sequel is set 5 years after the events of King of the Monsters, with the gigantic titans now a fact of life for humanity. Half of this film follows scientists working with Kong to find a power source inside the hollow Earth. The other half follows Millie Bobby Brown’s Madison Russell, who returns from the previous film, as she works to uncover a conspiracy involving Godzilla within a corporation called Apex.
The storylines come together to set up a showdown between the two titans.
6Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Godzilla and Kong team up to take on a new enemy
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Year in the MonsterVerse: 2024 or later
An insidious corporation manipulates both Godzilla and Kong, leading the two toward a showdown for the ages.
The most recent film in the MonsterVerse hit theaters in April 2024. It sees Godzilla and Kong teaming up to take on a new threat from the hollow Earth known as the Scar King. He’s a giant ape-like Kong who appears to be ruling over the hollow Earth. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle will all reprise their roles from Godzilla vs. Kong, while Adam Wingard is also returning to direct.
Upcoming Marvel movies: Every new MCU film and TV show in the works
Here’s everything you need to know about what’s next for the MCU, including every movie and TV show, their expected release date, cast info, and more.
Q: How to watch MonsterVerse’s Godzilla movies in chronological order
Here’s the at-a-glance list of the MonsterVerse movie order for Godzilla:
Q: How to watch the Showa-era Godzilla movies in chronological order
The Showa era of Godzilla films is where the idea of cinematic universes really got started.
It includes 15 Godzilla films, including the 1955 original, as well as spin-off films that set up characters like Mothra and Rodan. The first two entries in the series see Godzilla as a terrifying force attacking Japan, but later entries in the series see the giant radioactive lizard evolve into a protector for Japan against other gigantic monsters. To watch the series chronologically, you’ll need to save 1968’s Destroy All Monsters for last. It was designed to be the last Godzilla film and is set in the faraway future of 1999. You could also kick off a rewatch with Godzilla Minus One.
Q: How to watch the Heisei-era Godzilla movies in chronological order
Another way Godzilla was ahead of its time: a reboot that ignores everything but the original.
The Heisei Era begins with 1984’s The Return of Godzilla, which is a direct sequel to the 1954 original that ignores all the other Showa-era films. The films lead up to Godzilla’s death in Godzilla vs. Destroyah, but if you want to watch them in order, you should start with the original Godzilla film.
Q: How to watch the Millennium series of Godzilla movies
Toho, the Japanese company that produces Godzilla films, had planned to stop making Godzilla films while a new trilogy was released in America.
The first film in that series was the 1998 mega-bomb Godzilla, which ended up not getting any sequels. In that film’s smoking crater, Toho saw an opportunity to release more Godzilla films, and what’s known as the Millennium series of Godzilla films followed. These films all seem to take place in their own separate universes except for Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, which is a direct sequel to Godzilla against Mechagodzilla.
Q: How to watch every Godzilla movie order by release date
Here’s every Godzilla film in order of when they first hit theaters. There are a few.
