Godzilla: Awakening Prequel Comic Book Announced

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old


More and more, it’s not enough just to release a new genre movie. Now we also have to read a prequel comic book to understand the film’s central story. Luckily, these prequel stories aren’t required to fully enjoy the movie, but rather enhance it.

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards has announced just such a prequel graphic novel for the monster’s upcoming big-screen return. It’s titled Godzilla: Awakening and comes from writers Greg Borenstein and Max Borenstein, who was also one of the screenwriters on the film reboot. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures will release the graphic novel, which will follow (you guessed it) Godzilla’s awakening. It will be released on May 7, about a week and a half before the film hits theaters.

Of course, blockbusters have been doing this for quite some time. Joseph Kosinski released the graphic novel on which his sophomore effort, Oblivion, was based, and he did the same thing with Tron: Legacy. While these graphic novels are strictly for the hardcore fans, it feels a bit disingenuous. It’s like you need to do a little bit of homework before watching a movie. How complex could a Godzilla story be? Why not just give out comic books to people before they walk into the movie theater to watch the film?

Recently, one of the film’s leads, Bryan Cranston, talked openly about the Godzilla reboot. Cranston compared Godzilla to Jaws, in terms of tension and restraint. It seems that one of the reasons why we have yet to see Godzilla in full is because it’s all part of building tension leading up to the monster’s eventual reveal in the final film.

There are no plot details available about the reboot, aside from this brief plot synopsis from Warner Bros.:

An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

While vague, it seems as if the new movie might feature other monsters in addition to Godzilla.

Screenwriter and former-Walking Dead showrunner Frank Darabont, who revised the final version of the script, called the film a “force of nature.” British filmmaker Gareth Edwards directed the Godzilla movie, following up on his directorial debut, Monsters, from 2010. The reboot stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston, and Sally Hawkins, with Akira Takarada putting in a special cameo appearance.

Godzilla roars into theaters everywhere on May 16, 2014, in 3D and IMAX.