So I got a question about the Godzilla Awakeing comic

Willnotbenamed

Who was this unfortunate woman (seen in the grasp of Shinomura) caught in the crossfire between Godzilla and the Shinomura? What was her fate in the comics?

JurassicNight

Just a random chick, who definitely got wrecked. They were fighting in lava....

Gowhaletours

Is awakening canon now?

JurassicNight

Awakening's always been canon.... who told you it wasn't?

G. H. (Gman)

It has never been confirmed as canon.

Gowhaletours

Some fans believe it isn't due to slight contradictions and lack of reference in either film.

i consider it canon but I was just curious if there's been any official confirmation recently.

Gowhaletours

Thanks gman

JurassicNight

Gman-Really? That's weird as to me it perfectly lines up with the universe

The King of the Monsters

Awakening was written completely separately from the film when it was close to completion, and nothing introduced in the comic was taken into consideration when making the film. In all likelihood the comic itself was based on an earlier version of the script.

Now that doesn't necessarily mean it is or isn't canon. I tend to consider something canonical so long as it hasn't been declared non-canon or explicitly contradicted by canonical media. There are a lot of contradictions apparent between Awakening and the film, but a few (namely Monarch's founding date and Godzilla's activity prior to 1954) have seemingly been rectified by Kong: Skull Island. But there are still a few (Ishiro Serizawa being almost 70 years old by the events of 2014, Shinomura supposedly being present along with Godzilla at Bikini Atoll in 1954) that are hard to reconcile with the film itself. My best guess is Legendary will simply pick and choose what elements from Awakening are or are not canon, and not really take the comic into consideration when producing future films.

The Birth of Kong comic has a stronger chance of being considered canon at the end of the day due to being published after the film's release and after the larger scope of the MonsterVerse has been established.

JurassicNight

Was the Birth of Kong good? I never got it but might soon

The King of the Monsters

The Birth of Kong is two issues in and has two more to go. So far I'm enjoying it more than Awakening, and think it's a good way to further develop the mythology behind the MonsterVerse Kong.

JurassicNight

Cool, then I'll probably get it

TheGMan123

I personally think Awakening ought to be considered within the continuity. As we see, Castle Bravo was indeed utilized against Godzilla, but Bikini wasn't just the Atoll.

There were multiple real-life tests conducted in the Bikini region, with Castle Bravo only being one of them, including others conducted in the area in 1954. Not to mention that, in the opening credits to Godzilla (2014), there's mention of a 1-MT surface burst, which is likely Operation: Lucky Dragon that we saw in the beginning.

It's possible that the transcriber missed adding a 5, or perhaps the nuke we saw wasn't Castle Bravo, or perhaps Castle Bravo has been retconned since then. One of the three.

Given that we still see the actual footage of Castle Bravo playing in this film and Kong: Skull Island, I think the best solution would be that the CGI-animated test, Operation: Lucky Dragon, was a different bombing than Castle Bravo. That way, you neatly avoid the possible plothole of the Shinomura not being present.

Also, I never found Serizawa's age to be an issue. For example, in X-Men Apocalypse, Erik Lenshurr and Charles Xavier are supposedly in their FIFTIES by then. Also, I was shown a video of a woman who looked to be in her TWENTIES to THIRTIES at 70 years of age. I can suspend my disbelief on Ishiro Serizawa being that old.

The King of the Monsters

Even if some things can be rationalized to make sense by readers, I don't think that means Legendary should feel the need to strictly adhere to the comic's continuity. I personally don't really care for the comic and find it a rushed last-second cash-in, but putting my feelings aside I think it's an unnecessary burden for filmmakers to have to look at such an obscure and mostly forgotten piece of tie-in media when creating new stories. They shouldn't be afraid to ignore the events of the comic or outright retcon them if it serves the purpose of the story. Nothing from the comic that wasn't already a plot point from the script of Godzilla has really been acknowledged, which tells me Legendary isn't really concerned about it.

It's possible to rationalize and find alternate explanations to elements from Awakening, but I don't really think that should be necessary to connect pieces of canonical media. Awakening was written long before the direction of the MonsterVerse was determined, and it had no impact on the writing of the film itself. It's more or less an afterthought at this point, and I don't see much of a reason for Legendary to go back and explore it for future films. And like I previously mentioned I didn't much care for it, especially after reading the in my opinion far superior Skull Island: The Birth of Kong.