Post-credit scenes have become a staple of blockbuster franchises ever since the MCU kickstarted the trend of teasing future movies at the end of the credits of current films in the series. Filmmaker Michael Dougherty recently took to Instagram to share the concept art for one such post-credit scene that was supposed to take place at the end of Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

"Boards and pages for a @godzillamovie post-credits scene featuring the Mothra Twins. Sadly, it was never shot. Art by Anthony Winn."

The artwork shows the character of Doctor Ilene Chen, played by Zhang Ziyi, walking through a ramen bar towards a secret tunnel. There she meets with her twin sister Doctor Ling Chen, and they have a brief conversation. Then Ilene Chen enters a room containing the egg of the noble kaiju Mothra, being taken care of by her twin daughters.

The full importance of this scene will be readily apparent to those versed in early Godzilla movies lore. Traditionally, Mothra was depicted as a deity and protector of a group of humans living on an island. Mothra interacted with the islanders through the Shobijin, which refers to twin sisters who have the ability to commune with Mothra.

While the lore of the Shobjin was not explored in King of the Monsters, the post-credit scene would have confirmed they were indeed a part of the movie. It would have also confirmed that the responsibility of taking care of the Mothra egg has been passed on from Doctor Chen and her twin sister to her twin daughters, who are the new Shobjin.

Instead, the special relationship between the two Chen sisters and Mothra was only hinted at in the film. However, with the reveal of the scrapped post-credits scene, Dougherty has pretty much confirmed that a reborn Mothra will be making an appearance in the next film in the series.

King of the Monsters ended at a pivotal moment for the franchise. The much-hyped arrival of King Ghidorah, an alien monster that sought to terraform the Earth into a barren wasteland, had been met with resistance by the planet's prime Kaiju, Godzilla himself. After defeating Ghidorah with the aid of Mothra's sacrifice, the giant lizard had been named King of all Kaijus.

The next film, titled Godzilla Vs Kong, will see Godzilla traveling to the giant ape's home in Skull Island, which is hinted to have something to do with the origin of the kaiju species living on Earth. There, the two monster movie icons will battle, with the promise that one will emerge the definitive victor.

It seems Godzilla will once again be aided in battle by the reincarnated Mothra, which might make things extremely tough for Kong. Or the three could band together to take on Mecha-Godzilla, a mechanical monstrosity constructed by Humans to defeat kaijus.

Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong features Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry in the main cast. The film's release has been postponed to next year.