Kong: Skull Island Writer Reveals Deleted Character Backstories

Kong: Skull Island co-writer Dan Gilroy has opened up about some of the character backstories from his script that didn’t make it into the movie. While not a monster classic, Kong: Skull Island proved to be a fun and visually inventive updating of the iconic beast. The film was packed with creative action and monsters and helped further whet appetites for the upcoming Godzilla Vs. Kong.

While the film proved to be a hit for Warner Bros., it did face criticism for having too many characters, with none outside of John C. Reilly’s scene-stealing pilot making much of an impact. Even Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts addressed this in the film’s Honest Trailer, noting that he assembled a talented cast but gave none of them anything resembling a character arc.

Now Kong: Skull Island’s co-writer Dan Gilroy has opened up about his script in a new Collider interview and detailed some intriguing backstories that didn’t make it into the movie. While Gilroy enjoyed the finished product, he feels the movie would have benefitted from their inclusion.

A lot of the script was there. There was stuff that they cut out. You can imagine more character stuff. Brie’s character I had a whole thing, Tom’s character I had a whole thing. I thought there was time for it and room for it, and I would have liked to have seen it explored. But it’s a good movie, you know.

Brie was somebody who was really war weary and had taken photographs for too long, and she didn’t believe in anything, so the first time she saw Kong has like awakened… she was back to life. Tom’s character was a guy whose unit had been attacked by a big monster out in Vietnam and he was like in search of this thing. So instead of them approaching him at the bar and giving him the job, I had him like “I want on board.” So I liked those characters a lot.

While Kong: Skull Island was an enjoyable blockbuster, the characters could have benefitted from a little more depth. The backstory planned for Tom Hiddleston’s character, in particular, could have helped fresh his role out some more, as the movie doesn’t give him much to do outside of pointing a machine gun and delivering exposition. That said, it’s possible the filmmakers felt his monster hunting ambitions were too similar to the motivation of Samuel L. Jackson’s crazed Colonel, so they took it out.

The success of Kong: Skull Island makes it appears that Warner Bros. plans for a shared monster universe – dubbed the MonsterVerse – are alive and well. Coming next is director Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King Of Monsters, where the title creature will face-off against Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah, followed by Adam Wingard’s Godzilla Vs Kong in 2020. No movies have been announced beyond that clash, though it has been confirmed a crossover with Pacific Rim isn’t in the immediate future.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Godzilla vs. Kong release date: May 22, 2020
Godzilla: King of the Monsters release date: Mar 22, 2019