In 1954, a prehistoric apex predator known as Godzilla is drawn to Bikini Atoll, where nuclear weapons are deployed in an attempt to destroy him. The attempt fails, and Godzilla vanishes into the depths. Decades later, in 1999, Monarch scientists Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham investigate a collapsed uranium mine in the Philippines, uncovering the skeleton of a massive creature similar to Godzilla. Within the cavern, they discover two spores—one remains dormant, while the other has hatched, leaving a path leading directly into the ocean.
In Japan, the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant experiences unexplained seismic disturbances. Joe Brody, the plant’s supervisor, sends his wife Sandra and a team of technicians into the reactor to investigate. A sudden tremor breaches the reactor walls, trapping Sandra and her team. Joe is forced to seal the containment door, helplessly watching as his wife perishes, moments before the entire plant collapses.
Fifteen years later, Joe’s son, Ford Brody, now a U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer, returns to his wife Elle and their son Sam in San Francisco. However, his homecoming is cut short when he learns that his father has been arrested for trespassing in the Janjira quarantine zone. Joe, obsessed with uncovering the truth about the meltdown, persuades Ford to accompany him on a return to their old home. To their shock, they find the area uncontaminated and retrieve crucial data from Joe’s research. Before they can escape, they are captured and taken to a classified facility within the ruins of the power plant.
There, they witness a colossal chrysalis that has been feeding off radiation for years. Suddenly, the cocoon bursts open, releasing a massive winged creature. The monster, later classified as a “MUTO” (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism), annihilates the facility and takes flight, leaving Joe mortally wounded. The authorities claim the destruction was caused by an earthquake, concealing the truth from the public.
Serizawa and Graham join a U.S. Navy task force under Admiral William Stenz, tracking the MUTO across the Pacific. Serizawa reveals to Ford that Monarch’s classified research confirms Godzilla’s existence, explaining that nuclear tests in the 1950s were failed attempts to eradicate him. Instead, Project Monarch has been secretly studying Godzilla and other creatures. Ford provides additional insight—his father had intercepted echolocation signals that suggest the MUTO had been communicating with another entity.
The MUTO surfaces in Hawaii, attacking a Russian submarine and feeding on its nuclear material. Godzilla emerges from the ocean, triggering a devastating tsunami as he confronts the MUTO in battle. Their clash levels parts of Honolulu before the MUTO retreats. Serizawa deduces that Godzilla was responding to the MUTO’s calls, indicating the presence of another monster. The military investigates the remaining spore stored in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain facility, only to discover that a second MUTO—a larger, wingless female—has already emerged and ravaged Las Vegas.
Admiral Stenz pushes forward a controversial plan: use nuclear warheads to lure all three monsters into the open ocean and destroy them. Ford, now enlisted to help transport the warheads by train, witnesses firsthand the female MUTO’s devastating strength when she intercepts the convoy, consuming most of the warheads. The last remaining warhead is airlifted to San Francisco, where all three monsters are converging. When Godzilla arrives at the Golden Gate Bridge, the male MUTO intercepts the warhead and carries it to the female, who nests around it in the heart of Chinatown.
As Godzilla and the MUTOs engage in a fierce battle, Ford and a military strike team perform a high-altitude HALO jump into the city to retrieve and disarm the warhead. The team locates the warhead but is unable to stop its countdown. With time running out, they load the warhead onto a boat for transport into the ocean while Ford sets the MUTO nest ablaze, destroying the monstrous eggs. Enraged, the female MUTO attacks Ford, but Godzilla intervenes. In a climactic moment, he seizes the female MUTO and annihilates her with a devastating atomic breath. Fatally wounded, the male MUTO falls soon after.
Exhausted from the battle, Godzilla collapses amidst the wreckage. Meanwhile, Ford, having successfully set the warhead adrift, is rescued at sea just before the detonation. The next morning, he reunites with his family at an emergency shelter. The world watches as Godzilla regains his strength, rising from the rubble. With a final glance at humanity, he turns and disappears into the ocean. The media dubs him the “King of the Monsters,” as the world begins to understand that Earth’s balance has been restored—at least, for now.