On Nov. 3, 1954, Toho Company made history with the release of “Gojira”—better known in the West as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!”

From its film debut and subsequent installments, Godzilla cinema has been revered for its themes of post-disaster trauma, environmental destruction, and the inevitable war-cry: “Mother Nature fights back!” His legacy is no doubt one of the most enduring and recognizable in pop culture.

Since his rise to fame, Godzilla has been viewed as a protector of Earth—a physical manifestation of nature’s grief and fury. He punishes mankind for its hubris and demands respect for the forces of nature.

In 2024, Godzilla celebrated his 70th anniversary with an Oscar win for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards for “Godzilla Minus One” (2023). This film is a return-to-form, original retelling of Japan’s most notorious kaiju.

The film was praised for its emotional human narrative, well-balanced pacing, and breathtaking CGI that honored Godzilla’s 1954 design. Often compared to Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975), “Godzilla Minus One” heightened suspense by limiting Gojira’s screentime, making each appearance thrilling. The film followed Gojira’s post-nuclear origin and unfolded as a slow-burn, emphasizing post-war trauma in Japan. The film won a whopping 69 awards—including recognition in visual effects, sound design, direction, cinematography, editing, and film of the year both in Japan and abroad.

The positive reception of this film incited a resurgence of public interest in Godzilla.

Toho released a wave of merchandise—including special Blu-ray editions of various Godzilla films, exclusive clothing collaborations, collectible figures, board games, a trading card game, and even a cookbook.

The trading card game features Godzilla and many of his kaiju allies and enemies, including fan favorites such as Mothra and King Ghidorah. As of January 2025, Mothra even has her own comic book series titled “Mothra: Queen of Monsters”. The comic is written by well-known transgender author Sophie Campbell, who provides her unique perspective as a transgender woman. She puts a welcome spin on the Queen of Monsters, an often-overlooked favorite that has left fans delighted.

“Godzilla Minus One” has a sequel currently in production, new comic books are coming out left and right, and fans feel Godzilla and his kaiju counterparts are finally getting the tender, loving care they’ve deserved after decades of lackluster productions.

Godzilla’s 70th anniversary has not only delivered new content but also rekindled appreciation for older, more experimental entries. Some of the franchise’s most unique installments are being brought back and viewed favorably in the public light.

Take “Shin Godzilla” (2016), for example. Initially divisive in the West, it was criticized for its grotesque design, artistic direction, and satirical social commentary—even as it became an instant classic in Japan. However, with its 2025 summer re-release, the offbeat film is being re-examined and embraced internationally as the masterpiece it truly is.

“Shin Godzilla” is a biting satire of Japanese bureaucracy, taking digs at the U.S. as well. The film emphasizes the civilian victimization of bureaucratic paralysis, criticizing the Japanese government’s inadequate reaction to major disasters. This film primarily draws inspiration from Japan’s devastating “triple disaster” of 2011 that included a 9.0 earthquake, a colossal tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

In this film, Gojira is reframed as a primal, eternally agonized creature—not as an equalizer to human sins but as an animal experiencing rapid, confusing changes. This emulates the expeditious and inconceivable destruction humans have done to the Earth in an alarmingly short stretch of time. We watch helplessly as the beloved kaiju bleeds out and evolves rapidly to fit his environment, all while warding off opposing human forces who try to smite him in their own state of confused panic.

This installment truly drives the prefix of his name: God. This version of Godzilla is astronomically more indestructible and capable of destruction than his predecessors. He is not a respected force carrying out Mother Nature’s deeds but an anguished, befuddled creature indiscriminately wreaking havoc on civilization.

He exists as the unrelenting, spontaneous chaos of nature, rather than being the direct result of human evil. He is the embodiment of a natural disaster and how humans are no match for nature’s wrath.

Furthermore, he serves as a tool to shed light on how disasters, natural and man-made, are often not properly addressed by government officials. “Shin Godzilla” feels more relevant than ever in a post-COVID-19 world. The film’s depiction of the Japanese and American governments’ mishandling of the crisis eerily mirrors the real-world responses to the pandemic, especially in the United States.

American audiences may be viewing the film more favorably now precisely because of those parallels. In light of recent events, “Shin Godzilla” resonates more deeply, its themes striking closer to home than when it was first released.

Godzilla may be beloved for being a gnarly, recognizable monster, but his legacy endures because of the questions he embodies: When will humanity learn from its mistakes? When will we respect Mother Nature? How can we coexist with Earth’s harsh realities in peace and harmony? Godzilla has always been more than a spectacle—he is a symbol meant to be examined. His films are not supposed to be mindless action pieces made for passive entertainment. “Gojira” was originally created to be a work of critical cinema and a cautionary tale, urging audiences to reflect on the consequences of human hubris and reminding us that, in the end, nature always prevails.