Will the Big G fight a kaiju foe in Toho’s ‘Godzilla Minus One‘ this fall? Or is there something else behind this mysterious “Monster A” merchandise listing?

If you’ve been haunting the Godzilla Reddit communities (or the far corners of kaiju fan social media), you’ve seen the rumors. Purported “plot leaks” peg Minus One as having another kaiju present. On the chance that some of these leaks prove true, we won’t spoil anything for you here. Mostly because the latest vinyl figure listings from Bandai may very well confirm the presence of another monster in the 2023 film.

2016’s highly-influential Shin Godzilla saw the titular kaiju dominate the screen much in the same way he has for other era-launching films like Gojira (1954) and Godzilla Returns (1984). In kind, fans have been hoping to see the big guy face off against another monster in the upcoming Minus One. It’d be a welcomed change of pace, if anything.

Still, Shin gave us multiple forms of Godzilla. Which, in turn, gave Bandai a whole lot of merchandise to sell. And as deep as their partnership runs with modern day Toho, the toy company’s priorities are often the studio’s, too.

Before we had confirmation of these G forms, however, Bandai released listings for Monster A, B, etc. for Shin. They turned out to be the popular Kamata-kun and red third form. And now the same is happening for Minus One.

Bandai Lists ‘Monster A’ for ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Figure

In their release to merchants, Bandai has listed a “Monster A” as part of their hit Movie Monster Series. They’ve been pumping out kaiju figures in recent years (much to a collector’s delight), and will be giving us plenty more to celebrate the release of Minus One, with this mysterious “Monster A” among them. Here’s an example from our friends over at Showcase Daikaiju:

Monster A figure by Bandai, 2023

From Godzilla -1.0 film to be released in November, 2023.

Part of the 6″ line of figures in the Movie Monster Series.

Note: Bandai is only calling this “Monster A” right now, so we are unsure if it is an entirely new monster, or an earlier form of Godzilla. We will update as soon as we have more information. 

Showcase Daikaiju

But who is this unnamed beast? Will it end up being a new foe? An old one? Another form of Godzilla? Or just an excuse for Bandai to create another figure?

In G-Films past, creatures of human size have played significant roles. There’s the Meganuron pulled from Rodan (1956) into the franchise proper with Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000). There’s also the Shockirus bug monster of Returns (1984). A similar creature in Minus One is a possibility.

Looking at context clues from Bandai’s solicit has me thinking otherwise, however. For their upcoming releases, the company has also announced 6 inch and 10 inch Minus One Godzilla due to hit in October. But for November, which also sees the release of Minus One, Bandai is hitting us with Movie Monster Series Godzilla and Anguirus figures from Godzilla Raids Again (1955).

Could Godzilla square off against Anguirus once again in Minus One? The film is set to draw the clock back to WWII era Japan, restaging his entire origin story. And who better to bring back for retelling Godzilla’s emergence unto the modern world than the first foe he ever fought?

Admittedly, beyond the context clues, this is wishful thinking. Anguirus is a personal favorite, as he is for many fans (especially in Japan). He had a prominent part to play in Final Wars (2004) and the Singular Point (2021) anime as a result.

And yes, “Monster A” does also happen to include the first letter of Ang’s name. But those other possibilities/rumors floating around may prove even more exciting if true; pointing to a plot and second kaiju that would have Minus One pulling from the loose Showa mythos/canon in a truly exciting way. So we’ll see.

For now, we’ll just have to play the waiting game and hope the first full trailer for Minus One reveals more. That, or Bandai very well may beat Toho to the punch.

Godzilla Minus One hits theaters in Japan this November 3, then the U.S. on Dec. 1.