Godzilla X Kong: An Updated Cast List For The New Empire, Including Dan Stevens And Brian Tyree Henry

King Kong wielding weapon in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

The events of Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King of the Monsters paved the way for the MonsterVerse’s first crossover event: Godzilla vs. Kong, which marked the first time these two title monsters crossed paths in a Hollywood production. While Godzilla and Kong started off as enemies, they eventually came together against a shared adversary: Mechagodzilla, which had been intended as Apex’s tool to wipe out the Titans, but was corrupted by the consciousness of Ghidorah. Upon defeating this robotic menace, Godzilla returned to Earth’s waters and Kong was moved to Hollow Earth.

Evidently two colossal forces of nature like these can stay separated for only so long, as the next MonsterVerse movie up is what was once referred to as Godzilla vs. Kong 2, but is now officially titled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Per the official synopsis, along with Godzilla and Kong being pitted against “against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world” that challenges both their existence and our own, the sequel will “delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond,” as well as pull back the curtain on the “mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.” The first trailer for The New Empire dropped on December 3, 2023.

As with the other MonsterVerse movies, obviously Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’s main draw will once again be giant monsters fighting each other, but humanity always factors into these stories somehow. As such, we should go over who will be comprising The New Empire’s cast, starting with its new lead character.

Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Dan Stevens

Adam Wingard is sitting back in the director’s chair for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire after helming its predecessor, and this time, he’s brought in an actor from one of his non-MonsterVerse movies, The Guest. Dan Stevens starred in that 2014 feature as a murderous U.S. soldier named David, and now he’ll be taking part in Godzilla vs. Kong 2 as its main protagonist, a man named Trapper who, as Stevens told Total Film, is the man you call when you have a sick Titan. Many of you might know Stevens better for playing Beast in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey or David Haller in Legion.

Brian Tyree Henry in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Brian Tyree Henry

Our first returning MonsterVerse human character in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes, who, like the other announced familiar faces so far, was introduced in Godzilla vs. Kong. An employee at Apex Cybernetics and host of a conspiracy podcast centered on the Titans, Bernie teamed with Madison Russell and Josh Valentine to figure out what the corporation was up to and how this was affecting Godzilla’s behavior. Given his role in exposing Apex’s sinister activities and his extensive knowledge of the Titans, it seems as though Bernie is now working for Monarch when the events of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire unfold.

Rebecca Hall in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Rebecca Hall

While the Monarch organization as a whole didn’t get a ton of time to shine in Godzilla vs. Kong, one of its operatives was key to the plot. Rebecca Hall appeared as Dr. Ilene Andrews, the anthropologist linguist who studied Kong on Skull Island, and the adoptive mother of Jia, the island’s last Iwi native. Ilene accompanied the team that was transferring Kong to Hollow Earth and managed to make it out of that region alive with Jia and Dr. Nathan Lind in time to witness Kong’s battle with Godzilla in Hong Kong. Presumably Ilene is still working for Monarch during Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and she'll be venturing even deeper into Hollow Earth.

Kaylee Hottle in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Kaylee Hottle

Deaf actress Kaylee Hottle made her film debut in Godzilla vs. Kong as Jia Andrews, who also couldn’t hear and communicated in America Sign Language. With Kong also knowing ASL, as well as having protected the young girl from being killed by Skullcrawlers like her biological parents, the two formed a special bond. It’s unclear how much time will have passed between Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, but Jia is still by Ilene’s side and watching over Kong at the Hollow Earth outpost station. She'll also be witness to things like Mini-Kong (whose name is actually Suko) and the strange, seemingly magical forces present in this portion of our planet.

Fala Chen as Ying-Li in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Fala Chen

Fala Chen has been acting in Hong Kong movies and TV shows for over a decade and a half, but she made a splash in the United States on two fronts during 2021 and 2022. First, she appeared in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as Ying-Li, the wife of Wenwu and mother of Shang-Chi and Xialing, as well as the Dweller-in-Darkness masquerading as Ying-Li. Then she recurred in HBO’s Irma Vep miniseries as Cynthia Keng. Next she’s adding another Hollywood movie to her resume with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, though just like with the other newcomers in this lineup, we have no idea who she’s playing yet.

Alex Ferns as Sergeant Linus Mosk in Andor

(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Alex Ferns

Many United Kingdom TV viewers likely remember Alex Ferns for his run as Trevor Morgan in the soap opera EastEnders, and over a decade later, he recurred as Rick Harper in the Scottish drama River City. For those of you stateside, not to worry, as you’ve likely seen him in something recently. For example, Ferns appeared in The Batman as Commissioner Pete Savage, one of The Riddler’s victims. 2022 also saw the actor recurring in Andor as Sergeant Linus Musk, the Pre-Mor officer who followed the orders of Kyle Soller’s Syril Kari without question. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferns is starring in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as one of the antagonistic humans, but we shall see.

Rachel House as Topaz in Thor: Ragnarok

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Rachel House

If you’re a fan of Taika Waititi’s work, then you’re quite familiar with Rachel House. The actress starred in the filmmaker’s movies Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor: Ragnarok, appeared in a deleted Jojo Rabbit scene, and will appear in the upcoming Next Goal Wins. You may also recognize House as the voice of Gramma Tala in Moana and Terry in Soul, and she also vocally reprised her MCU character Topaz in an episode of What If… ?. On the live-action front, she also played Mao in Netflix’s short-lived Cowboy Bebop series. Along with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, House’s other upcoming projects include starring in the TV adaptation of Time Bandits, which will stream to Apple TV+ subscribers.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens in theaters on April 12, 2024. Keep your eyes peeled on CinemaBlend for more news on the sequel and other MonsterVerse projects, including Netflix’s anime-style series Skull Island and Apple TV+’s live-action series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Stream the released MonsterVerse movies with your Max subscription.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.