Godzilla's role in various films over the past six decades have been numerous.
Sometimes, he's the hero. Sometimes, he's the villain. Sometimes, he's a mixture of both, simultaneously saving the planet from alien invaders while on his way to destroy Tokyo. However, while we've seen Godzilla as a destructive force of nature before, this newly-released trailer for Godzilla: Resurgence (or Shin-Gojira, as it's known in Japan) makes the character look like something else entirely.
In short: a god. Unlike American Godzilla films, Toho isn't trying to hide what Godzilla looks like here. He's front and center from the first moments of the trailer, and he looks nightmarish, as if he's been nuked, dropped in lava and then pieced back together. He's the largest Godzilla to ever appear on screen, with his tail alone dwarfing some previous incarnations of the character. His beady eyes, wicked teeth and red and black color makes him appear more like a demon than a giant monster.
Much of the minute-and-a-half-long trailer is spent giving a look at the film's cast (which includes a few familiar faces from previous Godzilla films). It certainly looks intense, thanks in no small part to the trailer's haunting score, as citizens flee in terror while the government struggles to find a solution to its Godzilla problem.
In terms of story, we still don't know much. Early plot details seemed to boil down to the movie as being a battle between humanity and Godzilla, and that seems to match up with what we see here. Tanks, helicopters, fighter jets and warships all assemble to fight off the creature, but nothing seems to phase the King of Monsters. It looks like Godzilla doesn't even notice the army of tanks shooting at him, which is spooky in and of itself.
It's entirely possible there might not be another monster for Godzilla to go toe-to-toe with this time around. While that would be rare for the franchise, it has happened a few times before, most notably in the original 1954 film and in The Return of Godzilla (aka Godzilla 1985).
You can check out the full trailer below. Shin-Gojira premieres in Japan on July 29. There aren't yet any official details on a western release on the film, but considering how the movie already has an English title, expect to eventually hear something.
