“Godzilla” Prequel Comic “Godzilla: Awakening” Hitting Shelves May 7

With the release of Godzilla just around the corner, marketing should be kicking into high gear for this new iteration of the much-loved kaiju. Today, Legendary Pictures announced the release of a graphic novel before Godzilla opens in theatres. The graphic novel will be titled Godzilla: Awakening and hit stores on May 7, 2014. Hit the jump for more details on the comic.

Written by Greg Borenstein and Max Borenstein (writers of the movie); Godzilla: Awakening‘s adventure is set decades before the movie’s timeline and presumably ties into the movie’s story without spoiling any plot points. Given the fertile ground comics have been for movies lately, tying the medium into a movie’s release is becoming more common. In some cases, graphic novels have been used to great effect when attempting to expand a movie’s universe of characters.

To announce this new graphic novel tie-in, Godzilla director Gareth Edwards took to Youtube:

Godzilla stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Sally Hawkins. Warner Brothers will release the film into theaters May 16, 2014