Godzilla looks terrifying in this new Resurgence poster

The not-so-jolly green giant

This lightened version of the poster shows off  the new Godzilla in all his gruesome glory

Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, the filmmakers heading up Godzilla: Resurgence, promised that Godzilla's return to Japanese cinemas would recapture some of the dread and hopelessness of the original 1954 film, and if our first look at their take on the King of Monsters is any indication, it certainly looks like they're on the right track.

Looking like something that's stepped out of a nightmare, the new Godzilla is a far cry from the noble, bear-like beast glimpsed in Gareth Edward's recent US reboot. This Kaiju looks like he got up on the wrong side of nuclear explosion, coming across more mutant than lizard with its lumpy, misshapen profile, creepy staring eye and a maw studded with row upon row of wicked-looking chompers. In many ways it is very true to the creature's original design, just with lots of nightmare fuel poured on top. In short, we think the new design's a bit of a winner and can't wait to see what the suit looks like in action.

From what we can gather, the movie use a combination of traditional man-in-suit effects work and spiffy CGI effects to bring Godzilla to life. Only time will tell whether or not the film can live up to its billing as the "most terrifying" Godzilla ever, but after seeing this poster we're inclined to believe Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi might just be able to pull it off. Although, to be fair, they've got a lot of work to do if they want to make a movie scarier than Godzilla: Final Wars; just thinking about that movie is enough to make most Godzilla fans break out in a nervous sweat.