Though I am a lifelong member of the cult of Godzilla, I am a know-nothing neophyte next to some of my fellow enthusiasts. I’m mesmerized by their YouTube deconstructions of a recent movie trailer starring the classic Japanese monster who first stomped through Tokyo in November 1954. They’ve calculated the increased size of Godzilla in his next film by scaling the latest incarnation as it strolls along the Statue of Liberty. It’s work worthy of medieval theologians counting the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin.

The Lady Liberty moment is from a two-minute preview of Godzilla Minus Zero. The film is due this November from Japan’s Toho Co. Ltd., which released the original creature feature the same year it gave the world Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. Meanwhile, Godzillogists have also imposed their exacting scrutiny on the teasers for Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, the next in the Monsterverse series from Burbank-based Legendary Pictures. Their quest: Discover the identity of Godzilla’s enemy in the movie scheduled for a 2027 release. Could the rival kaiju be the demonic Destroyah? Or SpaceGodzilla, that transmutation of our hero but with crystalline shoulder pads?

As you may have surmised, our fanatical cult is in the middle of a schism of sorts. Over the last decade, there have been two cinematic Godzillas roaming the planet — one based in its native Japan, the other out of America. Last week, Toho announced it was going to manage the bifurcation of its hugely profitable icon — a sprawling piece of intellectual property some estimate to be worth $1 billion or more. Might it result in a bigger muddle?

First, some history. In 2004, Toho’s Godzilla movies ground to a creative halt after 28 theatrical releases. Since 1954, Godzilla had evolved from rampaging villain to anti-hero........

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