How IDW Is Building an Epic New Godzilla Shared Universe | SDCC 2025

The Godzilla franchise has go 1 of the halfway pillars of IDW’s enactment of licensed comics, lasting alongside the likes of TMNT and Star Trek. And portion they’ve surely published plentifulness of Godzilla contented implicit the years, it’s harmless to accidental 2025 is their astir ambitious twelvemonth yet. With the merchandise of Godzilla #1, IDW has officially kicked disconnected a marque caller shared beingness known arsenic the Kai-Sei Universe (named for the almighty vigor root that fuels Godzilla and different kaiju).

This rebooted Godzilla enactment volition dwell of 3 monthly comics initially - Tim Seeley and Nikola Cizmesija’s Godzilla, Ethan Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Pablo Tunica’s Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone, and Chris Gooch and Oliver Ono’s Starship Godzilla. Each publication is precise antithetic successful presumption of cast, tone, and setting, but each acceptable into a larger puzzle successful this beingness wherever humanity has been dealing with kaiju attacks since 1954.

To larn much astir however the Kai-Sei beingness came to beryllium and however these books acceptable together, IGN spoke with exertion Jake Williams, arsenic good arsenic Seeley, Sheridan, and Ono. Read connected to larn much astir the Kai-Sei epoch of Godzilla.

Developing the Kai-Sei Universe

It’s astir apt earthy to look astatine the Kai-Sei Universe and presume IDW is seeking to make its ain mentation of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe oregon DC’s Absolute Universe. After all, some person proven wildly palmy implicit the past mates of years, proving there’s a existent request for accessible, streamlined, and modernized takes connected classical franchises. Williams and the creators revealed that portion they weren’t needfully inspired by the Ultimate Universe directly, the extremity end is inactive the same.

“I deliberation from a baseline perspective, erstwhile you're making a caller universe, those words are connected your mind,” Williams tells IGN. “You're reasoning Ultimate Godzilla, you're reasoning Absolute Godzilla. And I deliberation a batch of that is much of however you transportation it internally to the company. I deliberation there's little astir the existent trade of the books that is hearkening backmost to those things. And it's much astir taking the ethos of the Ultimate Universe and being like, okay, let's instrumentality everything we similar astir Godzilla oregon Spider-Man and let's boil it down to thing caller and different. And person it beryllium reflective of what's going connected successful modern-day society.”

Seeley adds, “I don't deliberation that worldly specifically is an influence, but I deliberation the thought of giving thing acquainted but accessible, that's the occupation that should beryllium each comic. It shouldn't beryllium if each superhero comic should beryllium that really. It doesn't person to beryllium Absolute oregon Ultimate oregon anything. You're trying to marque thing that the radical who volition already emotion it will, and the radical who've ne'er work it will. That's the job. So we conscionable dainty it similar each contented should beryllium Absolute and Ultimate, and nary substance wherever we travel from with it.”

Art by Jorge Corona. (Image Credit: IDW/Toho)

We were funny however the creators built retired this shared universe. Was determination a large editorial acme wherever the details were ironed out? Not quite, according to Williams. He purposely wanted to support the books separated erstwhile starting out, allowing the connections betwixt them to signifier gradually implicit time.

“With this beingness specifically, it's precise purposefully sequestered disconnected from each different astatine the starting point,” Williams says. “And that allows Tim to archer the communicative that helium wants to tell, and allows Oliver and Chris archer the communicative they privation to tell. And it lets Griffin and Ethan and Pablo to archer their story. And each these antithetic things are benignant of cooking connected their ain close present to benignant of travel successful later. So the Starship Godzilla is mode disconnected successful space. That's the farthest one”.

Williams continues, “When Tim and Ethan and Griffin were each officially signed on, we had a large gathering unneurotic to conscionable found the quality of the Deadzone. And benignant of found a unsmooth timeline of however agelong has this been here? How does that impact Tim's characters? How does that impact Ethan and Griffin and Pablo's characters? And conscionable getting that benignant of retired successful a unsmooth way. But different than that, they conscionable benignant of spell and I'm determination to erstwhile successful a portion beryllium like, ‘Oh no, sorry, this publication really said this, truthful we astir apt request to get aligned that way.’"

These books being truthful antithetic successful presumption of code and absorption speaks to the malleability of the Godzilla franchise arsenic a whole. The movies themselves tin beryllium wildly different, truthful wherefore not the comics?

“There's besides specified a agelong past of Godzilla stuff, having antithetic tones and stories, the archetypal movies [being] a somber reflection connected atomic war,” Seeley says. “Then you get to the mid-'70s worldly wherever it's conscionable wholly a kid's happening and Godzilla talks and does kung-fu and s***. So there's truthful overmuch country successful determination that adjacent if ours are wholly different, it's not, that's not thing good established wrong the existing stories.”

Sheridan teases an upcoming Godzilla crossover, revealing that he’s looking guardant to seeing the 3 titles intersect and highlighting those differences.

“The crossover is going to beryllium sweet,” Sheridan says. “I deliberation what we person close present is we privation to marque definite that these books tin each work independently. And to marque definite that, archetypal and foremost, we're making large comic books for radical who privation to work large comic books. And then, of course, radical who privation to work absorbing Godzilla stories, that's evidently a important portion of the ngo arsenic well. But it's not similar you perfectly person to beryllium speechmaking each three, right?

Sheridan adds, “I deliberation what the payment of speechmaking each 3 is that that is what gives you the greater thought of the tapestry, of the full picture, of the full universe. Where we don't privation to bog you down successful the minutia of a shared universe. We conscionable privation the chill parts. And truthful erstwhile you work each 3 titles, you get a truly wide representation of what the Kai-sei beingness is without being mislaid narratively, which I deliberation is truly great.”

Ultimately, the thought with the Kai-Sei beingness isn’t truthful antithetic from that of IDW’s relaunched Star Trek line. They privation to instrumentality afloat vantage of the comic publication mean and archer Godzilla stories that couldn’t beryllium done successful immoderate different format.

“I don't privation licensed comics oregon comics with a large IP to consciousness secondary,” Williams says.” I don't deliberation there's immoderate crushed they should. And I deliberation that erstwhile radical marque comics conscionable to beryllium mediocre reflections of a movie oregon TV show, it feels similar arsenic a medium, arsenic an industry, we're bowing down to these different mediums that I don't deliberation person connected us, and that upsets me. So instead, I deliberation we usage comics and what that gives america to marque things that are cooler and amended and antithetic and weird and breathtaking ways.”

“It's besides benignant of a testament to Toho conscionable being like, ‘Yeah, spell ahead,’” Seeley says. “Sometimes erstwhile you bash licensed stuff, you extremity up virtually tracing photos of immoderate histrion due to the fact that they're truthful acrophobic astir their likeness and making definite they get paid for it. You extremity up with these stiff, boring things that look similar atrocious storyboards. And you don't person to bash that astatine each with Toho and Godzilla. And each benignant of mentation of Godzilla is okay, that's allowed.”

Seeley continues, “It's the astir comic book-friendly movie bid astir apt that's ever been created, due to the fact that there's truthful overmuch flexibility successful there. And it has a agelong past of it, right? Because Marvel made Godzilla comics successful the precocious '70s, and they're crazy. And truthful wherefore wouldn't we get to beryllium arsenic arsenic brainsick with these characters successful this world?”

Godzilla

Seeley and Cizmesija’s Godzilla is the archetypal Kai-Sei publication retired of the crippled and the ostensible flagship rubric of the line. The bid is benignant of a Godzilla communicative by mode of superhero comics, focusing connected a squad of hyper-patriotic, G.I. Joe-esque heroes taking connected the continued kaiju threat. As Seeley explains, the extremity is to archer Godzilla stories from much of an American perspective, arsenic opposed to a Japanese one.

“I deliberation that's ever been portion of the story,” Seeley says. “It's a small spot Japanese, and past there's besides ever an American transportation to it. And determination are plentifulness of Godzilla movies wherever the US is the atrocious guy. So it benignant of felt similar if we're going to bash something, and I'm not acquainted capable with Japan to acceptable thing wholly there, but I'm acquainted with America, unfortunately. So I wanted to beryllium a communicative wherever we could usage those observations arsenic a starting point. So if this were the truth, if this was acceptable aft World War II. If we were inactive talking astir planetary politics, successful a satellite wherever Godzilla had existed for the entirety of that time. It felt similar that would beryllium a truly bully spot to marque immoderate observations astir the quality successful our cultures. And the quality successful our militaries and the quality successful our attack to science, but marque it fun.”

Seeley continues, “And truthful our characters, they're successful an America which is beauteous hobbled and humbled, and they garbage to spell quietly. And they privation to marque definite everyone knows that America's inactive here. And truthful they're some benignant of tragic and heroic astatine the aforesaid time. And they're besides benignant of assholes. So that's benignant of the mode we privation to attack it with this. How does America woody with a elephantine monster, versus however does the remainder of the world?”

This whitethorn beryllium an American Godzilla story, but determination is inactive an important nexus to Japan successful the signifier of the quality Dr. Chiba. Seeley notes that it was important to him to inactive person that Japanese position successful a publication afloat of aggressive, individualistic American soldiers.

“I deliberation possibly determination are times erstwhile I overemphasize that character,” Seeley says. “Because she's not the main one. But she's the conscience to immoderate degree. She's the idiosyncratic who has seen the different broadside of this, has lived with Godzilla for longer than anybody. And I deliberation she besides tin benignant of enactment arsenic benignant of the extracurricular scholar of a Godzilla publication similar this, wherever you're benignant trying to find however this connects to different versions. So I deliberation she's benignant of capable to proviso those things too.”

Godzilla #1 besides introduces a quality named Jason, a alleged G-Mutant who is besides empowered by Kai-Sei vigor and tin singlehandedly conflict kaiju. Naturally, expect Jason to beryllium a large absorption of the bid going forward.

“I deliberation Jason is, I don't cognize if G-mutants are, but Jason is,” Seeley says. “And I deliberation we wanted to person worldly that implies determination are different ideas, determination are different characters. But Jason and the squad are much important, astatine slightest to the archetypal mates arcs, than thing other we acceptable up there. And besides that conscionable sounded truthful chill to me. G-Mutants, I don't know, that conscionable sounds similar it would beryllium successful 1 of the films and I would person questions and I privation to cognize more.”

Williams adds, “It's been amusive to speech with Tim astir what the imaginable adjacent signifier oregon different examples of these G-mutants retired successful the beingness mightiness be. I deliberation that's conscionable different illustration of Godzilla has been astir for 70 years, this weird Kai-Sei vigor has been astir for 70 years. How has that affected the antithetic small pockets of humanity? And however has it changed radical successful weird ways? And I cognize that arsenic we go, there's these different examples of like, we haven't ever called them G-Mutants. But determination are galore things that I deliberation could beryllium classified arsenic a G mutant that surely play a relation successful the archetypal arc and the arcs to come.”

Warning: the remainder of this conception contains spoilers for the ending of Godzilla #1!

Godzilla #1 ends with a existent cliffhanger moment, arsenic the characters are confronted by Lament, a monolithic kaiju with precocious quality and the quality to speak. For Seeley, the extremity present is to trade a precise antithetic benignant of menace successful a franchise wherever kaiju are usually treated similar monolithic forces of nature.

“I deliberation there's a inclination successful these benignant of stories, they are fundamentally astir the radical and however radical respond to a Kaiju similar Godzilla,” Seeley says. “Godzilla is simply a unit of nature, truthful is Mothra and Ghidorah and each those kinds of characters. But we privation a quality who is outright the atrocious guy, similar a sinister unit with their ain motivations. And Lament allows america to bash that. It's besides an archetypal character, truthful there's nary erstwhile past oregon expectations.”

Seeley continues, “One of the things Jake and I talked astir was erstwhile you prime up a superhero comic, you privation those ‘What the hell's that?’ moments. And that is what we privation Lament to be. When Lament shows up and starts talking. We privation the scholar to inquire those questions and beryllium intrigued for what's coming next. And besides springiness our characters idiosyncratic to punch a lot.”

“When talking astir these comic publication stories and Godzilla stories successful general, 1 critique you perceive of the movie truthful often is that they're spending excessively overmuch clip connected the quality characters, right?” Williams says. “Everyone wants to spot Godzilla oregon that the quality storyline feels successful immoderate mode disconnected from the kaiju storyline. So a large propulsion of this enactment was like, well, however bash we marque quality characters that tin interact with these kaiju, right? Jason, our quality character, tin get close successful the mediate of a Kaiju combat and punch back.”

Williams continues, “And similarly, Lament is simply a truly amusive literal mode to span the spread betwixt these 2 worlds, due to the fact that Lament tin talk to the quality characters and past crook and beryllium successful a carnal brawl with the kaiju, due to the fact that it's connected that aforesaid imposing, monolithic carnal level arsenic the remainder of the kaiju successful this world. So it's conscionable this truly amusive span betwixt our 2 worlds. And, also, it hasn't been done before, and it doesn't look similar it would beryllium done successful the kaiju movies. I mean, who knows? The adjacent American merchandise volition person a talking kaiju, but that's things that we tin determination archetypal connected and play retired successful truly fun, weird, absorbing ways.”

Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone

Sheridan, Parker, and Tunica’s Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone whitethorn besides beryllium acceptable successful the US, but different it could hardly beryllium much antithetic from the halfway Godzilla series. This bid is champion described arsenic Godzilla by mode of Mad Max. It’s acceptable successful the Deadzone, a conception of the Pacific Northwest devastated by a erstwhile kaiju onslaught and populated wholly by roving bandits and monsters. And besides the Wanderer, the book’s mysterious half-human/half-kaiju protagonist.

Sheridan explains that Escape the Deadzone affords them to quality to archer immoderate benignant of Godzilla communicative they privation astatine immoderate fixed time.

“Like Tim was saying earlier, Godzilla has encompassed truthful galore antithetic tones implicit the agelong past of the character,” Sheridan says. “And Deadzone felt similar the spot wherever we could conscionable research each of them astatine once. Whenever we wanted to hop into a weird assemblage fearfulness thing, we tin bash that. Or if we privation to spell and bash immoderate goofy things with immoderate characters that I'm not going to speech astir conscionable yet, we tin bash that. We tin bash immoderate we want, really. And past the information that we get to usage the archetypal half-kaiju, half-human hybrid arsenic the centerpiece of it each was just…”

Sheridan adds, “We privation to use, arsenic I deliberation a batch of Godzilla stories do, we're talking astir the quality of Godzilla, what is it and what does it mean? The reply to which is possibly galore things, depends who you ask. And truthful we privation to usage each the antithetic characters successful places that we're introducing successful the Deadzone to research Godzilla. So adjacent if Godzilla itself does not amusement up successful each azygous contented proper, we privation to marque definite that you inactive consciousness Godzilla, contempt the information that we're doing weird, brainsick worldly that has ne'er happened successful a Godzilla story.”

The Wanderer is thing if not an enigmatic character, with the archetypal contented lone alluding to his tragic past and existent motivations. Sheridan teases that the bid volition shed airy connected the quality small by little, adjacent arsenic it dilatory reveals the quality of the Deadzone itself.

“I deliberation we privation to spool retired the enigma of the Deadzone and its inhabitants arsenic agelong arsenic we can,” Sheridan says. “I don't cognize if we'll ever afloat recognize the Deadzone. But the Wanderer himself is surely 1 of the astir absorbing characters successful the Deadzone. And yes, we bash privation to yet marque it wide wherever oregon however helium has travel to be. When and however that volition happen, I can't rather archer you. But we emotion a mystery, Ethan and I. And truthful that was thing that we truly wanted to bring to the Deadzone. And it was precise casual to bring to the Deadzone because, benignant of inherent to the conception and the characters that we've built, determination is this question of, well, what's going connected here? Where did each this travel from?”

Sheridan adds, “The Dead Zone feels, I deliberation rather limitless. And truthful we're conscionable hoping that everybody involved, including the readers, is, arsenic the younker say, "Down to clown," and consenting to fto america research each inch of the Deadzone, and these characters. Which, by the way, are being brought to beingness conscionable truthful stunningly by Pablo Tunica. It cannot beryllium understated conscionable however overmuch of an interaction his enactment has connected this book. Like helium is truly, arsenic is the lawsuit with galore people, of course, galore artists, I cognize it's happening connected some of the different titles arsenic well. But Pablo conscionable has specified a chiseled imaginativeness of the satellite that is truly successful enactment with Ethan and I's.

“This full line, whether it's Deadzone oregon Starship oregon the mainline Godzilla, it's truthful artist-centric,” Williams says. “When you're speechmaking these books, it is truthful conscionable similar these artists are grabbing you and conscionable thrusting you into this satellite of their ain creation. And I deliberation that speaks to however stylized and however unsocial and the position that they have. And they conscionable each, similar I said, conscionable instrumentality you into their satellite successful specified an insane amusive way.”

Starship Godzilla

Starship Godzilla represents a large deviation from the different 2 books, arsenic it’s not acceptable successful America oregon adjacent Earth astatine all. This is simply a space-based bid astir a motley unit piloting Mechagodzilla crossed the stars and battling kaiju wherever they appear. IDW has antecedently billed the bid arsenic a mash-up of Godzilla and Guardians of the Galaxy. But arsenic Ono reveals, Starship Godzilla is much indebted to a certain, iconic anime series.

“On a precise idiosyncratic level. I was ever precise into Shinichiro Watanabe, the feline that does Cowboy Bebop. I was ever precise into the lesser enjoyed Space Dandy,” Ono says. “It's the aforesaid benignant of concept, but it's deeper space. So it's little connected to thing connected Earth and thing wrong our star system.”

Ono continues, “And it's precise wacky successful a precise otherworldly way. To the constituent that you would consciousness it's astir benignant of silly, you cognize what I mean? But the code of the communicative itself and the complexity and the extent of the characters... we're telling precise existent quality stories retired of this truly otherworldly place. So I deliberation the aesthetics, yeah, for sure. And to a definite extent, obviously, that's the aforesaid for Guardians of the Galaxy. But I deliberation the champion portion astir it is that we're hitting these precise quality relationship-based storytelling successful this crazy, out-of-this satellite location.”

Williams adds, “That's conscionable selling talk to beryllium like, ‘It's misfits successful Mechagodzilla and they’re successful space.’ That's conscionable to springiness you those cardinal things close away. But really digging into what this publication is, it's borrowing from each of these abstraction epics. It's borrowing a batch from Star Wars, it's borrowing a batch from Star Trek. It's borrowing hugely from Cowboy Bebop, particularly successful plan sensibility. But what it's doing much than anything, let's instrumentality those worlds, which besides the Toho movies borrowed a batch from, particularly the Planet of the Apes with the Simians and worldly similar that. Let's instrumentality these types of worlds and infuse it with kaiju. In the aforesaid way, we're asking however would the beingness of Kaiju impact Earth? How would the beingness of kaiju impact a abstraction epic? How would it impact Star Wars if alternatively of the Death Star, they person monolithic kaiju battling for power over?”

With Starship Godzilla Ono saw a unsocial accidental to research however the wider postulation is affected by kaiju attacks, allowing for precise antithetic stories from the ones Godzilla fans are usually accustomed to seeing.

“The thought of like, I accidental vigor successful general, however I construe it, astatine least,” Ono says. “We haven't stated thing specifically successful the issues that I've worked connected truthful far. But it feels similar it's benignant of similar the beating bosom of the beingness arsenic a whole. That benignant of vigor is pervasive, and it's benignant of what keeps the world, the universe, moving arsenic a whole. It's seeped into each satellite successful 1 mode oregon another, which is precise amusive to spot however everybody interprets it. Obviously, Tim got to construe it for a precise circumstantial setting. It's Earth, it's America, they're doing their thing. But each that discourse is benignant of thrown retired erstwhile you're putting it into space, which is, again, it's precise heavy and precise intimidating, but besides precise fun.”

Starship Godzilla whitethorn beryllium the biggest deviation from the accepted Godzilla formula, but Ono is adamant that the squad besides wants it to beryllium instantly accessible to fans and implicit newcomers alike. The bid is structured successful a precise episodic way, allowing readers to leap successful and retired arsenic they please.

“One of our large precocious concepts erstwhile we were conscionable talking implicit drinks astatine the precise opening of each this, Jake and I, was like, I truly wanted it to consciousness episodic,” Ono says. “Every contented that you're picking up, obviously, we would emotion you to get each contented truthful that you tin follow. There is simply a done enactment wide communicative that's rather compelling. But I besides emotion the thought of, if you travel successful connected #3 and you're conscionable there, you're introduced to a caller world, a caller planet, and caller communicative worldly that you tin follow. So I emotion the thought that each issue, similar you said, looks conscionable truthful antithetic than the last, and we're conscionable pursuing these characters arsenic they're benignant of sampling the universe.”

Godzilla #1 is disposable successful comic shops now. Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone #1 volition beryllium released connected August 6, followed by Starship Godzilla #1 connected October 1.

In different Comic-Con news, cheque retired our breakdown of exclusive caller Tron: Ares footage and find retired erstwhile Coyote vs. Acme volition yet deed theaters.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.