No Godzilla? No Problem! Kaiju Films Coming in 2022!

While Toho and its partners keep the Godzilla series close to the vest, Japan isn't merely rolling over with their post-war born genre. New talent and new stories are being produced on both studio fronts and independent scales. The kaiju genre continues to thrive without Godzilla and here's some examples currently slated for 2022.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?

60 year old Satoshi Miki, director of the highly acclaimed slice-of-life drama Adrift in Tokyo, takes his first stab at the kaiju genre with What to Do with the Dead Kaiju?

Literally titled Giant Monster Cleanup in Japan, the movie is unique to the genre as it focuses on the aftermath of a kaiju death. After the monster's demise, the body begins to rot and bloat. If its internal gases erupt from the body, the nation could be destroyed.

It's up to an unlikely group to figure out how to dispose of the body and save Japan. The movie is described as "quirky" and satirical in tone. It is one of the most anticipated in the genre for its fresh take.

What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? hits Japanese theaters February 22nd.

SHIN ULTRAMAN
Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno, the Japanese Academy Award winning directors of Shin Godzilla, return to the genre for a massive Ultraman reboot. Based on the original series' concept and designs, Higuchi will take over lead directorial duties while Anno maintains his writing/producing role.

Classic Ultra monsters Neronga (pictured in the header image) and Gabora are set to return in what is being touted as an adaptation of the original series. Shin Ultraman was initially slated for a 2021 debut, but will now open May 13th.

BRUSH OF THE GOD

Starting with an unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign in 2020, the project was greenlit anyway. A second Kickstarter campaign invigorated new life into the film.

Directed by Keizo Murase, the legendary suit maker of countless kaiju dating back to the 1950s, Brush of the God is a meta-contextualized story of his love for tokusatsu.

The granddaughter of a tokusatsu filmmaker gets sucked into her grandfather's unmade film. There she discovers Orochi, the Eight Headed Dragon, trying to destroy the tokusatsu realized world.

Though there is no certain release date yet. However, behind-the-scenes photos show the monster props are very far along.

GRIDMAN X DYNAZENON

The upcoming anime film is a crossover film following the two series, SSSS.Gridman and SSSS.Dynazenon. Gridman is based on a live action series developed by Tsuburaya Productions (the creators of Ultraman) in the early 1990s. Both Gridman and Dynazenon are known for fighting nefarious kaiju.

Produced by Tsuburaya Productions in partnership with Studio Trigger, Gridman x Dynazenon is the highly anticipated sequel to its successful predecessors. No release date is yet announced.

YUZO: THE BIGGEST BATTLE IN TOKYO

The final film on the docket is the first kaiju film to tackle the topic of COVID-19. The comedy is written and directed by Yoshikazi Ishii who served as the assistant special effects director on popular tokusatsu projects like Godzilla: Final Wars, Sinking of Japan and various Ultraman projects.

When a giant monster uses the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic to its advantage, an "everyman" named Yuzo becomes the only sane man that can stop it. Release date is forthcoming.

Though State-side release dates are unknown, we're hopeful these new films in the genre will make their way westward. Until then, we have a lot to look forward to without Godzilla.