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A classic character is about to return to Marvel’s comic book universe for the first time in more than four decades — and he’s going to unveil never-before-seen moments from Marvel’s past in the process. Starting in March, it’s Godzilla vs. Marvel — and first up, Toho’s iconic kaiju is facing off against the Fantastic Four.

Announced via the Hollywood Reporter, Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four is the first in a series of six one-off issues pitting the monster against the big names of the Marvel Universe, with Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Thor also being up to bat. (The promo image for the project includes more characters than that, suggesting that a Godzilla vs. Avengers book might be on the cards, as well, notably.) Don’t think of this as a regular crossover, however; according to Marvel and Toto, the issues — each of which will be created by a different writer/artist team, with Fantastic Four’s Ryan North stepping in to write the first with John Romita Jr. illustrating — will take place in different periods of Marvel history, uncovering parts of canon that have previously gone unseen.

It’s probably worth pointing out that the “Godzilla vs” framing shouldn’t be taken too literally; the Fantastic Four issue, for example, will feature Godzilla teaming up with the good guys when King Ghidorah is recruited by Galactus as his new herald. (A kaiju with the Power Cosmic? Now that sounds like a problem.)

This new project won’t be the first time Godzilla has appeared in Marvel’s comic book pages; the character had his own solo Marvel title between 1977 and 1979, and it turns out that fondly-remembered series is in part responsible for this 2025 return.

“We approached [Toho] initially for our reprints, but a while after those conversations, it was clear that both of our teams were excited to do more together,” Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski told THR. (An omnibus of the earlier series was released in October.) “These crossovers started coming together over that time, in direct collaboration with Toho, and we felt the perfect time for them was for Godzilla’s 70th anniversary next year. We’ve been thrilled to work with them on these, and we hope this will be a sign for more exciting projects to come.”

With this series of one-shots being released throughout 2025, Godzilla will accomplish the rare feat of being published simultaneously by Marvel and DC, as the latter announced a follow-up to its successful Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong at New York Comic Con 2024, targeted at a summer 2025 release. Of course, the character will also be appearing at the same time in solo projects from IDW Publishing, which holds the regular Godzilla comic book license in the US. They share that with Legendary Comics, which holds rights for comics based on the Monsterverse version of the character... which means there might be a fourth publisher putting Godzilla comics out into the world at the same time. No matter where you’re looking at the comic store next year, Godzilla is likely to be there. That’s one monster-sized footprint.

Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four is scheduled to debut in March 2025, with further one-shots in the 'Godzilla vs. Marvel' umbrella to follow.

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