Been a fan of the Unbelievable One since I read about him in Jeff Rovin's
Encyclopedia of Monsters where it discussed how the scenes involving the Obake flying were omitted from the Stateside cut of the flick. Also there was a
Godzilla Vs. Varan by George Thomas in an issue of
G-FAN. Then one of my favorite takes on the Unbelievable One was the Random House Godzilla novel by Marc Cerasini,
GODZILLA 2000 in which Varan pops up in the Gulf of Mexico, and proceeds to rampage from the Yucatan, to Galveston, Texas. Before finally being taken down by the military's G-Force division. A favorite scene in the book had Varan using an oil tanker as a resting spot on an oil tanker in the Gulf. Sadly we were deprived the return of Varan in the never released fifth installment,
GODZILLA &THE LOST CONTINENT. We were teased in the end of the fourth book,
GODZILLA Vs. THE ROBOT MONSTERS with a preview for the never released installment. Along with Godzilla, it looked like Varan had a part to play in the preview. Basically it involved a Coast Guard cutter investigating a distress call from a ranger station. Along the way they discovered that the local sea lion population was gone, and found a seaside community devastated. Then their search was halted by a sudden shadow falling across them. And that's where our collective tequila worms were left hanging.
According to the series' cover artist, Bob Eggleton, in one interview about working on the series, he mentioned an interesting thing about the storyline in the
LOST CONTINENT. Varan was returning to the world featured in the novels, but he wasn't alone. Godzilla and the book's protagonists were supposed to be dealing with
a whole pack of Varans.
Varan also seems to be second in the kaiju department to the one ,and only Bagan
in the
"Always the bridesmaid, never the Bride." department when it comes to getting to the big screen. Although he got his chance in his debut film, and basically a cameo in
Destroy All Monsters ! . But he's been denied a few times.
The Return of King Ghidorah in which Godzilla, along with Rodan and Varan joined forces to battle King Ghidorah, Gigan, and Mogu. But Varan, Mogu, and Rodan were dropped ,and the flick evolved into the
GODZILLA Vs.GIGAN know ,and love today. As many know Varan and Anguirus almost made their long awaited return in Shuseke Kaneko's
GMK as one of the three Yamamoto Guardian Monsters, but was dropped for the much more sexier Mothra ,and King Ghidorah. I was hoping when news that Legendary was doing the Godzilla ,and it was announced that other monsters would be showing up for the party. I was hoping that Varan would be one of the other monsters we'd be seeing. Heck, with all the talk with
KONG:Skull Island and some looking for King Kong to have a Big Bad to deal with on the Island. Although it's a slim chance in heck that any Toho kaiju will be showing up. Gorosaurus has been talked about. But I like the idear of Varan being his opponent. He has a distinct look to him with his translucent spines, and the wings stretching between his arms and legs. Varan was also the object of worship by the tribe in the region, like Kong was on his own island.
