Warning! SPOILERS ahead for Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Mothra makes her MonsterVerse debut in Godzilla vs. Kong.
In King of the Monsters, Godzilla battles his ancient rival and longtime film nemesis, Mothra's twin fairies.
Beginning with Toho's 1961 film, Mothra, the giant moth has almost always been accompanied by a pair of tiny twin fairies, the Shobijin. These fairies act as Mothra's heralds, speaking to humanity on her behalf and summoning her when her protection is needed. The tiny fairies are definitely one of the campier, more fantastical elements in Toho's Godzilla movies, and so, fans were initially curious if some version of Mothra's fairies would actually appear in King of the Monsters. As it turns out they do. Well, sort of. Instead of tiny twin fairies, King of the Monsters includes twin sisters, Dr. Ilene and Ling Chen (both portrayed by Zhang Ziyi) as Monarch scientists who have spent a great deal of time studying Mothra.
But the Chens' connection to Mothra goes even deeper than that. Ilene and Ling are third generation Monarch scientists, following in the footsteps of their mother and her twin sister, as well their grandmother and her twin sister. In fact, Ilene is also the mother of two twin daughters, meaning that, in a rather unusual development, the Chen family has four generations of identical twin daughters. As for the three sets of twins who work for Monarch, they have all have spent much of their careers studying Mothra. For example, King of the Monsters includes a snapshot of the Chens' mother and aunt working at Monarch site on Infant Island in 1961 - the very same island from where Mothra originates in her 1961 film.
In Dr. Ilene Chen's profile on the strange music being sung in the forests, the sisters investigate and later discover the Temple of the Moth. Inside this temple is where Monarch discovers the egg from which Mothra later hatches before entering chrysalis. Ling Chen is even present when Mothra emerges from her cocoon, almost mirroring the adoration of the Shobijin.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters may not include actual tiny twin fairies who accompany Mothra, but the Chen family is a clear nod to the Shobijin. This sequel may be a more outlandish film than 2014's reference to earlier Godzilla movies and one that longtime Mothra fans are sure to appreciate.
