Four years later, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is finally paying off a major Hollow Earth reveal from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The first full trailer for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire reveals quite a lot about awaits the two pop culture icons when they make their next big-screen Monsterverse appearances. As the footage makes clear, the Hollow Earth world will be central to the story for both of the titular Titans.

It's no surprise, of course, that the Hollow Earth will be paramount to what's ahead for the Monsterverse. Over the years, Godzilla and Kong's cinematic universe has gradually increased its importance to the lore. Legendary laid out the general concept in Kong: Skull Island, worked it into the wider world of the Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and allowed for a glimpse into this hidden corner of the Monsterverse in Godzilla vs. Kong. It only made sense that the next step would be for the sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, to dive deep into the Hollow Earth, showing off the denizens of this world and explaining some of its most pressing mysteries.

Godzilla X Kong Confirms Humans Still Live In The Hollow Earth

One of the areas Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is gearing up to explore seemingly pertains to a key reveal from 2019's King of the Monsters. After following Godzilla into his underwater lair, Monarch came to the startling realization that thousands of years ago, humans dwelled within the Hollow Earth tunnels and worshipped the Titans as gods. The idea of humans occupying a place inside the Hollow Earth was a fascinating discovery to say the least; however, it's not one that Godzilla vs Kong followed up on when it took the characters down into that once-unseen world. Godzilla x Kong, on the other hand, looks to be heading in another direction, as the trailer teases the continued existence of Hollow Earth humans.

In the trailer, human characters can be shown brandishing spears and aiming them at the protagonists. What this implies is that when the main characters begin their exploration of the Hollow Earth, they'll come across people who live there and perhaps see them as invaders from the surface. This ties in perfectly with King of the Monsters, the movie that dropped this shocking reveal about the Hollow Earth having humans in the first place. Godzilla x Kong is now taking it to another level by revealing that not only did people live deep underground, but there's still some down there.

Monsterverse Has Already Teased The Identity Of The Hollow Earth Humans

As for who the Hollow Earth humans in Godzilla x Kong really are, it looks like the Monsterverse may already have a working explanation for this. In the Godzilla vs. Kong novelization, it was revealed that the Iwi tribe in Kong: Skull Island were descendants of a human civilization who existed alongside the Kongs in the Hollow Earth. Apparently, their people relocated to Skull Island with the Kongs after the Titan War. Of course, because these details never made it to the screen, they could technically be retconned. But, the connection does make sense nonetheless, given that it's known the Kongs came from the Hollow Earth.

With that in mind, it's certainly plausible that the Iwi tribe originated from the Hollow Earth. That goes hand-in-hand with the decision to bring Jia, a surviving member of the Iwi, back for Godzilla x Kong. If the Hollow Earth humans are indeed related to the Iwi, they'd have a connection to Jia which the main characters can use to their advantage.

Godzilla X Kong's Hollow Earth Humans Can Finally Solve The Monsterverse's Biggest Mysteries

The decision to bring the Hollow Earth humans into the picture in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is massive for the Monsterverse. Their presence there grants the Monsterverse opportunities that weren't available in previous installments. After all, that's only so much audiences can learn about the Monstervere's ancient history from statues, carvings, paintings and skeletons. These provide fun Easter eggs, hints about the past, but only a few concrete answers. If the Monsterverse wants to fully solve its biggest mysteries, one of the easiest ways it can do that is through human characters who already possess this information.

Presumably, they'll speak a different language, but if that barrier can be broken, Godzilla x Kong's cast can make some important breakthroughs. For a while now, there's been a great lack of clarity regarding why the Monsterverse's ancient Titan War happened, why Kong's kind wound up on Skull Island, and why the Kongs had access to Godzilla's power in their temple. Plus, there's the matter of the new mysteries posed by Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, such as the history of the Scar King and the nature of Godzilla's new form. If these questions are brought to the Hollow Earth humans, the Monsterverse can use this chance to provide a much-needed history lesson, and in turn set up some new mysteries for future movies to explore.

During the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, the powerful primate journeyed into Hollow Earth to find a lizard-killing weapon he could use to show Godzilla who’s the king of the jungle. During this underground adventure, we learned that humans used to live in Hollow Earth many millennia ago, building colossal temples to worship Kong’s ancestors. In one particular scene, we even see a throne room with a small door in the base of a chair, indicating that humanity lived side by side with monsters in the past.

Since the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, fans have been wondering where the MonsterVerse would go next, and the origins of Hollow Earth seem to be an exciting concept to explore in a theatrical release. At the end of Godzilla vs. Kong, the two titular colossi split reign over Earth, with Godzilla remaining the king of monsters on the surface while Kong remained free in the jungles of Hollow Earth. So, if the sequel is exploring the past of Hollow Earth, it’s most likely we will see the giant gorilla once again.

While Legendary and Warner Bros. haven't made a statement about the Godzilla vs. Kong sequel's official name, a working title is usually related to the themes or main plot points of a given production. So, by setting “Origins” as a temporary title, the MonsterVerse gives us a massive clue about where the franchise is going.

It would also make sense to focus the sequel on Kong since Godzilla is already set to return in another MonsterVerse production. Apple TV+ is currently developing a Godzilla and the Titans series focused on the many monsters that never got in the spotlight in the previous movies. The series will follow a family trying to survive in a world filled with monsters right after the destruction of San Francisco at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.