Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire's lead character designer Jared Krichevsky revealed that Godzilla's new neon pink transformation was inspired by one of Goku's earliest power-ups in Dragon Ball Z.
Spoiler warning for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
In a Twitter/X AMA, Krichevsky replied to a fan asking if Godzilla's new pink design was inspired by Goku Black's Super Saiyan Rosé form from Dragon Ball Super.
"I didn't see Goku Rosé until years later," Krichevsky wrote. "But I did base the transformation off of Kaio-Ken."
Kaio-Ken, one of Goku's earliest transformations, is a unique technique that acts as a power and speed multiplier. Goku has used this signature red form to even the odds in iconic Dragon Ball Z battles with Vegeta and Frieza, and in Dragon Ball Super against Hit. Unlike his various super saiyan color palette transformations, Kaio-Ken only gives Goku a short burst of power with a pretty hefty side effect. Kaio-Ken comes with the caveat of putting major physical stress on Goku — exemplified in the anime with the heat radiating off his body and pulsing veins — the longer a fight drags out.
Whereas Goku learned the Kaio-Ken from King Kai, Godzilla obtained his pink form from absorbing the DNA of a fellow kaiju named Tiamat. Differing power-up circumstances aside, Krichevsky confirmed that— like Goku's Kaio-Ken — Godzilla's pink form is temporary.
"The massive amount of energy required for his transformation would force him to burn all his extra fat away," Krichevsky explained in the thread. "This will change as he gains back full control."
Prior to Krichevsky's AMA, fans jokingly theorized Godzilla's new pink form as the logical conclusion to Barbenheimers' atomic pink aesthetic. In an interview with IGN, director Adam Wingard addressed Godzilla's form, saying the visual change wasn't made at random to spice up the kaiju's design.
"I wanted it to be part of the major drive of the story, why Godzilla was getting this new look. And the pink colour itself, it's not random," Wingard said. "It's not just like, he evolves and for some reason the blue turns to pink."
Keeping the Dragon Ball Z parallel alive, Krichevsky teased fans saying Godzilla was "in the middle of transforming" while in his pink form — possibly hinting at an all-new tranformation in a future film. Krichevsky also addressed where Godzilla's form lands him in the Monster Verse's power scale totem pole, saying the new form may make him the post powerful creature on earth "but maybe not the Hollow Earth."
In our review, we wrote, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a textbook visual thrill ride punctuated by brief moments of forced emotion and little else. Director Adam Wingard has a lot of fun with textures, colors, and camera work, and he’s adept at giving fans the over-the-top monster action that they demand via an imposing new villain. Unfortunately, there’s no time to spend on making things make sense or even matter all that much, and what few emotional punches are thrown lack the necessary wind up to connect, save for some very well done moments between Kong and his Hollow Earth kin."
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
