'Godzilla: Minus Zero' Trailer Unleashes Monstrous New Threat Against Titular Kaiju

Godzilla Minus One came out in 2023. The 37th film in the long-running Godzilla franchise, some may have expected it to come and go like many Godzilla films before it, but there was something special about this entry. Godzilla Minus One is set in post-World War II Japan, taking the franchise back to its roots. It tells a deeply emotional story with a human perspective, and the visual effects — which were supervised by writer-director Takashi Yamazaki — are spectacular. Godzilla Minus One took home an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, making it the first Godzilla movie to win an Academy Award.

Yamazaki returned to helm the sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero, which is due out later this year. The movie is set two years after Godzilla Minus One, and will feature the returns of lead characters Kōichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Noriko (Noriko Shikishima). They’re now married and raising the orphaned girl Akiko, who was a baby in the first film.

Godzilla Minus One ended with Godzilla seemingly defeated, but as you could have guessed about a movie monster who’s appeared on the big screen consistently since 1954, he wasn’t likely to stay down for long. The new movie will be set at least partially in the United States, and that’s not the only new element. The newly released trailer for Godzilla Minus Zero teases a familiar threat:

At the end of this trailer, we see Godzilla fall to the ground after apparently being knocked off his feet. What is powerful enough to do that to a creature that big? Although we don’t get visual confirmation, we hear a roar that sounds an awful lot like King Ghidorah, a three-headed dragon who has often been presented as Godzilla’s greatest rival.

King Ghidorah is one of the most powerful kaiju in the Godzilla franchise, and it’s exciting to think that we’ll soon get to see Yamazaki’s take on him. Godzilla Minus One was somewhat unique in that it didn’t feature any giant monsters besides Godzilla, which has only happened four times in the decades-long history of the franchise. That said, there’s a long tradition of pairing Godzilla up with other kaiju, so it makes sense for the new movie to take that step.

The trailer announces that Godzilla Minus Zero is “first Japanese production filmed for IMAX.” We’re also told that, “There is no third time. Everything ends here.” That makes it sound like Godzilla Minus Zero may be the last entry in this particular run of Godzilla films. We’ll see if that’s the case when Godzilla Minus Zero opens in theaters on November 6, 2026.