It is a shame that Adam Wingard won't be returning to direct any more movies in the MonsterVerse, but we can hope that the franchise will veer into fresh directions with a change of hands. Wingard's contributions have shaped a chunk of the expectations we have from the kaiju-focused franchise, especially the lore surrounding Hollow Earth and the monsters that inhabit it. Before the director ventured into making "Godzilla vs. Kong" and the recently released "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," he dabbled in low-budget horror projects such as "The Guest" and "You're Next," and has currently set his sights on helming an action-thriller titled "Onslaught." But what was it like for Wingard to adapt to the expectations surrounding a kaiju blockbuster centered on an epic, highly-anticipated fight between two beasts with unresolved beef?

For starters, Wingard had a clear roadmap planned out for "Godzilla vs. Kong," where a singular...