Superman Has Fought The Real Godzilla, Even if He's Only Fighting A Knockoff in His New Movie

The new Superman movie isn’t just continuing the hero’s decades-old battle with Lex Luthor, but apparently also sending him into combat with a Godzilla-sized, fire-breathing monster. The skyscraper-sized kaiju might be the most outlandish antagonist in Superman movie history, but it’s actually not the first time the Man of Steel has gone toe-to-toe with Godzilla.

Heading off the biggest question for movie fans, wec an confirm that the giant monster in Superman isn’t a character from DC Comics, nor does it have any direct comic book counterpart. Despite the creature’s humanoid eyes and facial appendages resembling an axolotl’s gills, Superman‘s marketing material only refers to the monster as “Kaiju”, making comparisons to Godzilla unavoidable. Which is bad news, considering how Supes fared against Godzilla in their actual comic fight.

Superman Really Did Fight Godzilla (Along With The Justice League)

Godzilla Is Officially A Justice League & Avengers Antagonist In DC & Marvel Comics

Superman and the Justice League fought Godzilla in DC and Legendary Comics’ Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, taking place in a separate continuity to DC’s main universe. And while the heroes assemble to stop Godzilla, Kong, Mechagodzilla, and several other kaiju from leveling various cities, the storyline also shocked readers by confirming that Godzilla can defeat Superman in straight-up battle. But the kaiju didn’t stop there.

Throughout the years, Godzilla has made several comic book appearances as a guest antagonist in both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Marvel acquired the license for Godzilla in 1976 and presented the Godzilla: King of the Monsters comics, where Marvel’s heroes took on Godzilla themselves. Following the series’ cancellation in 1978, Dark Horse Comics acquired the license and published a wide variety of Godzilla stories for the next twelve years, before the six-issue event Godzilla vs. Marvel in 2025.

Marvel beat DC to Godzilla’s comic book introduction, but DC beat Marvel to the kaiju’s modern reinvention. In 2023, DC Comics partnered with Legendary for the Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong crossover event, where the Justice League fought not only the King of the Monsters, but also several of Legendary’s creatures, plus Mechagodzilla and the Legion of Doom. The direct sequel to Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong started in June 2025, ahead of Superman‘s July 2025 release.

Godzilla has been a major antagonist in the Avengers and the Justice League’s comic history, but the famous kaiju doesn’t belong to either company and thus can’t be considered a Marvel or DC character.

Can The Justice League And Godzilla Ever Have A Movie Crossover?

A Superman vs Godzilla Live-Action Adaptation Is Possible, But Unlikely

In theory, it would be possible to bring crossovers like Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong to live-action, if DC Studios and Legendary collaborated for such a project (similar to Marvel Studios and Sony collaborating to introduce and keep Spider-Man in the MCU). Since every installment in Legendary’s Monsterverse franchise has been distributed by Warner Bros., a DC vs Monsterverse crossover might be even easier to coordinate.

On the other hand, a crossover between the DCU and the Monsterverse would probably be too impractical from a narrative perspective. Legendary’s Monsterverse has raised the stakes to the point that the introduction of metahumans wouldn’t be ‘jarring,’ but the early nature of the new DCU means a decade’s worth of movies and shows before a multiversal crossover can be considered.

In the meantime, DC-owned monsters like Superman‘s “Kaiju” will likely fill the roles of iconic Titans like Godzilla and Kong. Except these ones, the Man of Steel can actually beat.