Who Is The Villainous Kaiju In Godzilla X Kong? Shimo Explained

It is a good time to be a Godzilla fan. From the surprisingly great Apple TV+ show "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" giving us a fantastic dose of Kurt Russell, to "Godzilla Minus One" not only becoming the first film in the franchise (and the first tokusatsu movie) to be nominated for an Oscar, but also delivering one of the best movies of 2023.

There are also the MonsterVerse movies, which have had their ups and downs. Still, there's no denying the sheer thrills and spectacle "Godzilla vs. Kong" delivered, and there's no denying how exciting the look of King Kong with a mecha gauntlet is in the upcoming "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire."

That film promises to change the hierarchy of power in the MonsterVerse, with footage showing the utter destruction of the Great Pyramids, the introduction of a whole planet of giant apes that apparently have long protected humanity while Godzilla and other Titans protected nature, and even the return of best boy Titanus Doug.

One thing the trailers tease but don't really show is the villain of the upcoming "Godzilla x Kong." It is clear the giant ape with a kaiju spine as a weapon will be an antagonist, but the latest trailer teases the arrival of something else. 

That something is Shimo, the new Titan that will force Godzilla and Kong to team up. Of course, like most things in movies these days, the villain's existence was first alluded to not in trailers or posters, but in a video game — specifically a 2022 "Call of Duty" collaboration with the previous movie in the franchise, "Godzilla vs. Kong." In the game, players could find a cave painting showing Godzilla fighting Shimo.

In Playmates action figure sets, Shimo is described as a "legendary ice Titan with unstoppable, world-ending powers." Indeed, the latest trailer for "Godzilla x Kong" shows Kong fighting against an unseen force unleashing what looks like an ice beam.

We don't know what Shimo is meant to be, or why it is awakening and threatening to destroy everything in "Godzilla x Kong." The trailer voice-over explains that the Titans protect nature, so perhaps we'll get another "humans are a threat to nature, so they must die" motivation for the villain. Given that Shimo is not based on any Toho character, but brand new, its motivation and background remain to be seen. What is clear, however, is that we'll get a team match, with both Godzilla and Kong facing evil mirrored versions of themselves — Shimo is evil Godzilla, and the angry scarred ape is clearly evil Kong.

We'll have to wait until "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" comes out on March 29, 2024, to find out more.