Warning! Major spoilers for Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire are ahead.
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Summary
Kong’s dental pain motivates him to seek medical attention above ground, risking Godzilla’s territory.
Kong’s battles with various Titans have left him scarred, including a tooth infection that drives him to the surface.
Director Adam Wingard drew inspiration from his own dental pain to include Kong’s toothache in the film.
Kong’s first trip to the surface in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is motivated by dental pain, which is bad enough to risk Godzilla’s wrath by leaving the Hollow Earth and venturing into Godzilla’s territory. While Godzilla’s role in Godzilla X Kong was somewhat disappointing, Kong is given plenty of screen time, which made the movie a pseudo-Kong sequel. Audiences are given an in-depth look into his life in the Hollow Earth, with the toothache acting as just one of the elements that helps people identify with him as the movie’s hero.
Kong bears plenty of scars from his battles over time. The Monsterverse has already seen him clash with both the smaller Skull Crawlers and the massive Skull Devil on Skull Island, the winged, snakelike Warbats in his first trip to the Hollow Earth, and of course Godzilla and Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong. Godzilla X Kong sees him clash with new Titans, and those fights certainly take their toll on the colossal ape, which begs the question: was his toothache a side effect of one of his major battles?
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Kong’s Tooth Pain Is Not From Fighting Godzilla (Or Mechagodzilla)
Kong bears plenty of other scars from those two battles.
Kong’s first appearance in Godzilla X Kong sees him fleeing a pack of wolf-like Titans across the Hollow Earth. It turns out that he’s actually baiting them into a trap, and ends up killing several before scaring off the remainder. He settles in to feast on one of the unnamed Titans (leaks hinted that they might be called “Wart Dogs” or “Warth Dogs”, although that hasn’t been confirmed), but when he bites into the meat he howls in agony. A close-up reveals that one of Kong’s fangs is severely infected.
Kong’s dental work is far from the first time he’s sought medical attention, as he knows exactly where to go to seek treatment, and even settles in to be sedated.
The pain is so severe that it drives him to the surface to seek medical attention from Trapper, a new character and apparent Titan veterinarian. Trapper removes the fang and replaces it with a synthetic metal tooth, but he never clarifies how the tooth became infected. It does not appear to be the result of any kind of battle, much less his battle with Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, otherwise it would have most likely been confirmed as such. It’s also been several years since the events of Godzilla vs. Kong, so the tooth just now becoming a major problem seems unlikely.
Kong’s Tooth Hurting Comes From Years In Hollow Earth
It isn’t the result of any one specific incident.
Kong’s tooth infection appears to be no more than a natural result of his time in the Hollow Earth. Throughout the franchise, Kong has been seen eating other Titans, from the massive squid he stomps to death in Kong: Skull Island to the Warbat he beheads in Godzilla vs. Kong. With a diet that seems to consist mainly of other massive creatures, it’s not that big a surprise that he might have chomped down on a spine or bone at one point, leading to a cut or broken tooth and the subsequent infection.
Director Adam Wingard provided an entertaining explanation for the toothache in an interview with the LA Times. While making his 2011 horror hit You’re Next, the director was dealing with crippling dental pain himself. According to Wingard, the pain baffled his dentists, and he suffered for more than a year.
“I was looking for some catharsis of what I was dealing with,” says Wingard. “Having a scene where Kong is getting some dental work done felt like closure to me.”
Wingard reflecting his own situation in the massive ape may have been carthartic, but it also provided a fun method of helping the audience identify with Kong. The ape’s story is fully fleshed out in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, and his tooth infection is a small but important part of his journey.
Source: LA Times
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
After nearly destroying each other in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, the giant Titans are back to face a new dangerous threat, but this time, they are on the same side. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fifth film in Warner Bros.’ growing Monsterverse franchise and will be directed by Adam Wingard.
Director Adam Wingard
Release Date March 29, 2024
Studio(s) Legendary Pictures
Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
Writers Terry Rossio , Simon Barrett , Jeremy Slater