Godzilla has stomped through a variety of experiences since he first emerged in movie theaters in 1954. But more than 70 years later, there are still boxes left to check: Prior to this year, for example, he’d never had a film play at the New York Film Festival.

That changed this weekend as the festival hosted the world premiere of Godzilla Minus Zero. (It’s playing one more time on Wednesday of this week for any New York area residents who want to try to score tickets.) It is the 38th Japanese-made Godzilla movie — there are several more American-made versions, too — but this new movie isn’t exactly Godzilla Part 38. It is, however, a direct sequel to another movie. If this is confusing, or if you just need a Godzilla refresher, or want to know a little more about the brand-new movie, Decider is here to help with this handy FAQ.

How much Godzilla lore do you need to know to enjoy Godzilla Minus Zero?

Technically, maybe none! It’s a very well-made, well-acted monster movie with top-notch visual effects that never overwhelm a strong human story. However, that human story is a direct continuation of Godzilla Minus One, the previous Godzilla film. That movie is also terrific, so there’s no reason not to catch up with it first, especially because it’s currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream Godzilla Minus One on Netflix

Wait, so is this part of a whole Godzilla saga?

Not exactly (at least so far). Let’s back up: There have been four “eras” of Japanese-made Godzilla movies from the Toho company. The first era, known as the Shōwa era, includes all the movies made from 1954 through 1975, which are more or less in continuity with each other (though they all stand alone pretty well). The second era, known as the Heisi era, covers 1984 through 1995, starts over with a direct sequel to the 1954 original, and proceeds with a new continuity from there (though, again, it’s pretty stand-alone stuff, as was the custom at the time). The Millennium era, active from 1999 until 2004, has more stand-alone films, with some exceptions for movies that sequelize or refer to older titles.

The current era is called Reiwa, and began in 2016 with Shin Godzilla. The idea seemed to be do another series of stand-alone films; Shin Godzilla (which is great, by the way) takes place in a world where Godzilla has never exited, and so does the next Japanese-made live-action Godzilla film, 2023’s Godzilla Minus One. Each one starts over from scratch. However, the enormous success of Minus One inspired Toho to continue the story with a sequel, re-hiring writer-director Takashi Yamazaki and bringing back much of the surviving characters from the earlier film. It has so far earned rave reviews, just as its predecessor did.

So is Godzilla Minus Zero one of the greatest sequels ever made?!

Some early reactions have indeed compared to Godzilla Minus Zero to ambitious and beloved sequels like The Dark Knight and The Godfather Part II that are famous for outshining their predecessor (at least for some people; your Godfather mileage my vary). Like those movies, it very much continues and expands the story from the previous film, which was about Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a Japanese fighter pilot in World War II who encounters a nascent version of Godzilla when he fakes a mechanical problem to avoid his “duty” as a kamikaze. After the war is over, Shikishima attempts to grapple with his guilt when a fully grown Godzilla returns to attack the country, threatening to bring it from the post-atom-bomb “zero” back to “minus one.” He bands together with other scientists and soldiers to take on the big guy themselves. Action and suspense ensues!

Godzilla Minus Zero picks up two years later, with Shikishima and his partner Noriko (Minami Hamabe) parenting their adopted daughter Akiko (ae Nagatani). When a new monster threatens the country, Shikishima and Noriko’s connections to the earlier Godzilla threat throw them into the midst of the action as a disaster-response agency attempts to mitigate and stop the destruction. Of course, Godzilla’s name is in the title, and he has a habit of returning to the fold even after his seeming demise, so there may be more than one monster vying to spread supreme terror across the land.

This means that as far as kaiju action goes, Godzilla Minus Zero outperforms its predecessor; it has monster fights, which have been a signature of the series for most of its run. The effects, produced at a fraction of the cost of its American equivalents, are wonderful both in terms of design and of creating a sense of weight and scale on these massive creatures. If the American MonsterVerse movies have become pretty kid-friendly affairs (that’s not a knock; they’re lots of fun), these are scarier and meaner monsters — and more serious-minded human characters to go along with them.

As to whether the movie as a whole is better than Godzilla Minus One, I would personally say that it doesn’t quite clear that high bar. That film had a cleaner storyline, and the sheer novelty of digging into post-war Japan for a movie set earlier than other Godzilla films, in more direct conversation with elements that were more metaphorical in other incarnations. In the first film, the postwar drama adds an element of surprise that Minus Zero struggles slightly to recreate; it inevitably does feel like a bit of a sequel when it comes to its lead characters, a problem this series has never really faced before. Frankly, some of the film’s newer and supporting characters might have led an even stronger storyline in less risk of repeating and/or undoing the first movie. That said: Godzilla Minus Zero is also a blast; it’s a thrill to watch and has a thoughtful core of ideas about humans’ attempts to control what can’t necessarily be tamed, as well as the global dynamics of a post-war world. Both the spectacle and the human dimension make it well worth seeing in a theater, and a terrific addition to the Godzilla legacy.

Why “minus zero,” anyway?

Well, besides that it’s one more the “minus one,” the movie’s new monster — who turns up immediately, so despite not appearing in the trailer, this is not really a spoiler — is a version of King Ghidorah, a dragon-like kaiju who has been a longtime nemesis of Godzilla in various other films. He debuted in the 1964 classic Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, and was referred to as “Monster Zero” in the subsequent Invasion of the Astro-Monster as well as in his appearance in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, one of the recent American MonsterVerse movies to feature Godzilla. (There’s also a spinoff/backstory-heavy MonterVerse show on Apple.)

If I want to do my Ghidorah homework anyway, what do I stream?

You don’t need to know anything about Ghidorah to enjoy this movie, but you may want to because Ghidorah rules! HBO Max has a lot of Ghidorah movies: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and its follow-up Invasion of the Astro-Monster are both there; the latter is also free on Tubi. HBO also has a second-era installment, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and the American Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Is Godzilla really in the Oscar conversation?

Though he’s famously ill-tempered and probably not well-suited to the awards campaign trail, Godzilla did walk off with an Academy Award for Godzilla Minus One; though it was for visual effects, it still went to director Takashi Yamazaki, as he spearheads the effects work for these films. Though visual effects is considered a smaller category at the awards, it is also absolutely mindblowing that a Japanese Godzilla movie won an Oscar in the U.S.; it’s something that was never really considered a serious possibility. =

So when can I see Godzilla Minus Zero?

The movie opens November 6, 2026 in North America (which means it will probably show previews on the day before: Thursday, November 5). However, November 3 is “Godzilla Day” (marking the anniversary of the original 1954 film’s release) and also when the movie opens in Japan — so North American IMAX screens will be showing a paid sneak preview that day, too. So if you want to see it ASAP and can’t make the remaining New York Film Festival screening, keep your eye on tickets for Tuesday, November 3.