All 3 Hollow Earth Realms In The Monsterverse, Differences & Wildlife Explained

Summary

• The Hollow Earth is a hidden world full of unique flora and fauna, including monsters like the Drownviper and Warbats.
• Totally original Hollow Earth creatures like Skullcrawlers and Vertacines prove that the setting is a blank slate for the Monsterverse.
• The Subterranean Realm introduces new monsters like Titanus Shimo and Skar King, adding depth to the Hollow Earth lore and setting up a new location.

As Legendary’s Monsterverse has continued to expand, many new monsters have been introduced, along with several new locations hiding underneath the surface of the world, known collectively as the Hollow Earth. The Hollow Earth realms are the home to different species of flora and fauna, and operate under different rules of physics in some instances. The Hollow Earth Theory was first mentioned in 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and ever since, each subsequent movie and TV show has ventured deeper into the mysterious territory.

While the Monsterverse is based around two of cinema’s most popular monsters in Godzilla and King Kong, it has progressed far beyond the lore laid out by Toho and RKO, respectively. The Hollow Earth opened the franchise up to new possibilities when it comes to settings and creatures, allowing for the introduction of both classic Toho monsters and original Titans. In fact, one casual mention of the Hollow Earth in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire indicates that a vast majority of the Hollow Earth is still unexplored, meaning the setting is still mostly a blank slate for the Monsterverse.

3 Hollow Earth

The primary ancient subterranean ecosystem

Technically speaking, the first time the Hollow Earth appears on-screen in the Monsterverse is in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, when Monarch’s nuclear sub passes through a vortex and the crew finds themselves in Godzilla’s ancient lair. While no exploration occurred beyond that small area, their journey still proved the existence of the Hollow Earth, which fueled Monarch to pursue other avenues into the mysterious realm by the time of the events of Godzilla vs. Kong. Kong leads the joint Monarch and Apex team into the Hollow Earth via their Antarctica portal.

The Hollow Earth is a twisted reflection of the ecosystems on Earth’s surface, with many creatures of varying sizes and deadliness competing for survival. Kong is among the largest of the daikaiju that can be found there, but monsters like the Warbats he battles in Godzilla vs. Kong and the Wartdogs he traps and eats in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire pose a real threat to him. Most of the fauna is much smaller than Kong, although still far larger than similar animals on the surface. The land itself is composed largely of lush jungle and craggy mountains.

The region of the Hollow Earth that Kong found via the Antarctica portal is unique in that it represents the midpoint of the Hollow Earth. Gravity inverts in the dead center of the space, creating a point of zero gravity while allowing creatures on both sides of the midpoint to feel the effects of gravity on their respective surfaces. The Iwi tribe that still inhabits the Hollow Earth demonstrates a method to control gravity, essentially turning it off and on via giant natural crystals that they control.

The section of the Hollow Earth that Kong enters also contains a massive temple that appears to have been created either by the original Hollow Earth humans or Kong’s ancestors, given the Kong-sized throne and the sheer scale of the structure. Inside he finds his trusty axe, which he can charge up on the floor of the temple thanks to the residual radiation energy that still pulses through the temple. The temple, which is carved into a massive cave, acted as the stronghold for all the members of Kong’s subspecies.

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire provided some additional perspective on the sheer scale of the Hollow Earth, while also introducing many new creatures previously unseen in the preceding movies. It also demonstrated that different portals from the Hollow Earth connect to different points on the surface, with each passing through a gravitational “membrane” in order to move between the Hollow Earth and the surface. Skull Island is essentially just the Hollow Earth ecosystem that made its way to the surface, which explains the similarities in flora and fauna.

The Iwi tribe that Jia belongs to was thought to have been eradicated by the storms that ravaged Skull Island, but in the Hollow Earth it’s discovered that their sister tribe is very much alive and well. They have a persisting civilization, complete with a storied documented history, access to advanced engineering techniques and defended by the latest incarnation of Mothra herself. Their existence sheds some light on the early humans who worshiped Godzilla, whose influence can be seen in his lair.

2 Axis Mundi

A mysterious corner of Hollow Earth where space-time is warped

Where the Hollow Earth exists in the center of the Earth, the highly volatile sub-world of Axis Mundi exists as a sort of middle realm between the surface and the primary section of the Hollow Earth. Like the Hollow Earth, the Axis Mundi is connected to the surface world via a set of portals, and the realm’s first appearance in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters indicates that the portals themselves function similarly to the Hollow Earth portals. However, there is one significant difference with the Axis Mundi portals: they’re unstable.

The portals between Axis Mundi, Hollow Earth and the surface are referred to as “Vile Vortices”, are based on 12 real places on the Earth where physics seem to falter, and unusual phenomena occur. The most famous one is the Bermuda Triangle.

Axis Mundi is essentially an interconnected series of tunnels and pockets of space that lies between the Hollow Earth and the surface. Given that position, the realm feels the gravitational pull from both the Hollow Earth and the surface, making the portals volatile and inconsistent. As Lee Shaw demonstrates, the portals are so unstable that they can be collapsed with significant enough interference, like from an explosion. The heavy radiation from massive Titans like Godzilla and the Ion Dragon acts as a stabilizing agent for the portals as they pass through them.

Because of the gravitational distortion that Axis Mundi experiences, space-time is distorted. That means that time passes differently there than it does in either the Hollow Earth or on the surface. As a point of reference, Dr. Keiko Randa fell into a portal and was lost for 57 days, when in reality 56 years had passed on the surface. It remains to be seen how Monarch uses that information, but it’s certainly going to act as an impetus for the second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

1 Subterranean Realm

A deeper level of the Hollow Earth

Kong stumbles upon the third realm of the Hollow Earth almost accidentally (or so it would seem). The Subterranean Realm is completely uncharted at the time the action kicks off in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, but Kong manages to make his way through it despite the best efforts of his unwilling young ally, Suko. After dispatching the deadly Drownviper and stopping for a spot of lunch, Suko leads Kong into the lair of the Skar King.

Kong’s battle against the Drownviper is a callback to Toho’s 1967 movie
King Kong Escapes
, during which Kong battles a sea serpent in the ocean.

Much of the terrain that Kong crosses in the Subterranean Realm is very reminiscent of Skull Island and his home portion of the Hollow Earth. His battle against the Drownviper even acts as a brief callback to Kong: Skull Island, during which he kills and eats the massive Mire Squid. The change in terrain doesn’t really come until Suko leads Kong across the bouncing spine column bridge of an ancient Titan many times larger than Kong or Godzilla.

Within the Subterranean Realm, in the depths of a volcanic, crystal-covered section of the land, is the lair in which Skar King and all his followers are sequestered. Skar King demands hard labor and suffering, stoking a perverse loyalty born of terror in his followers. Within that dungeon is the great Titan Shimo, an ice-spitting foil for Godzilla who obeys Skar King’s commands only due to his possession (and libral use) of a crystal that causes Shimo agonizing pain.

Skar King was driven into the Subterranean Realm after losing an ancient war against Godzilla. As Godzilla is responsible for ensuring that the Titans of the Hollow Earth remain where they belong, Skar King’s ambition to take over the surface world was not something that Godzilla could ever abide. Hence, Godzilla drove him even deeper into the Hollow Earth and trapped him there, in the Subterranean Realm, where he has no access to portals through which he can access the surface.

Skar King is able to leave the Subterranean Realm because a fleeing Kong, who just had his right arm decimated by Shimo’s Frost Bite Blast attack, inadvertently leads him to the entrance that he stumbled upon to the uncharted realm. From there Skar King, atop Shimo, is able to lead his followers to the Iwi civilization, around which there are many portals to the surface. Their short battle in zero gravity before falling through a portal to the surface takes place in the Hollow Earth proper.

The Iwi city is known as Malenka, and was established at that position in the Hollow Earth due to its proximity to a number of Vile Vortices.

With Skar King dead, Kong returns to his lava-strewn lair with a grateful Shimo at his side to free the remaining former subjects of the Skar King, who will no longer be subjected to pain and suffering. It remains to be seen if Kong continues to rule from that lair, or if he and his new followers return to the primary section of Hollow Earth, presumably to reclaim the abandoned Kong temple. The Monsterverse will continue with the greenlit sequel to Godzilla X Kong, which means there could soon be an entirely new section of the Hollow Earth to explore.