A 'Pacific Rim' Crossover With 'Godzilla' And 'Kong' May Eventually Happen

The movie franchise that started as a love letter to the kaiju monster genre may end up battling some of the OG kaiju in future crossover movies, if Pacific Rim Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight gets his wish.

The sequel to Guillermo del Toro's affectionate homage to the mecha anime and monster movie genres that sprung out of Japan, Pacific Rim Uprising also happens to hail from the same studio that is currently spearheading Godzilla and King Kong's cinematic MonsterVerse, Legendary Pictures. So it would not be too difficult for a crossover between the three properties to take place. Because all we're really missing from the Godzilla and Kong films are giant robots beating them up.

Cinematic universes are all the rage right now, and it seems like even Pacific Rim won't be an exception from this phenomenon. The sequel itself was unexpected, with del Toro departing from the director's chair and DeKnight stepping in, and the cast almost entirely changed except for Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman returning as their characters Mako Mori, Dr. Newt, and Dr. Gottlieb, respectively. Instead, the sequel will focus on a new generation of Jaeger pilots, fending off an even more deadly invasion of Kaiju monsters. The new Jaeger pilots are led by Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of Idris Elba's Stacker.

But Pacific Rim Uprising may be carrying more than simply the burden of living up to the cult classic original. It may be planting the seeds for a Pacific Rim crossover with the Legendary MonsterVerse, which includes Godzilla, King Kong, and more.

DeKnight told Collider that talks of a Pacific Rim and Legendary MonsterVerse crossover have taken place:

"I won't say there's an Easter Egg but there's been a lot of discussion about that possibility [of crossing over]. Look I think it would be fantastic to have the Pacific Rim universe join Legendary's Monster Universe, it seems like a natural step. And part of the big overall plan after the third movie we've talked about is that could happen, it's always a possibility. It's by far not a certainty; it's merely theoretical at this point, but as a fan myself I would love to see that happen."

Whether that's in the cards is yet to be seen, but the MonsterVerse is picking up steam, with Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs. Kong set to be released in 2020. What better way to follow that up than with an epic three-way fight between Godzilla, Kong, and Gipsy Danger? Perhaps we could see more hints of it in Pacific Rim 3, which DeKnight hints is also a possibility to Collider.

"Oh we definitely leave it open to another installment. The tricky thing with something like this is you want to not end on a cliffhanger," DeKnight says of Pacific Rim Uprising. "It has a definitive ending but very much open to the next chapter."

Pacific Rim Uprising is set to hit theaters on March 23, 2018.