If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Weapons prequel Gladys adds Krampus and Monsterverse Godzilla scribe to cowrite script

Weapons director Zach Cregger will cowrite his prequel with Zach Shields, the man responsible for the Krampus and Godzilla vs. Kong film scripts

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Apr 02 2026

Popverse's top stories

Matt Mercer is aware of (and humbled by) Critical Role's place in D&D history
One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is the guy you have to thank for Netflix’s super-cute Chopper
Watch the Hell’s Kitchen Returns: Daredevil: Born Again with Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Elden Henson, & Wilson Bethel from Chicago's C2E2!

Most horror villains have an impressive bodycount; very few have an Oscar.

But after the most recent Academy Awards, Weapons' breakout star aunt Gladys (played by Best Supporting Actress-winning Amy Madigan) entered that elite club, and it probably won't shock you to learn that creator Zach Cregger is now planning on doing more with her. What might surprise you, though, is that he's not doing it alone - as we've just learned, he's calling on the man who wrote Krampus for help.

The story comes from Deadline, in an interview published April 1. I know, that date made me wary of the announcement's veracity too, but seeing as how there's been no takebacks since then, we can safely assume that Cregger's Weapons prequel really is tapping Zack Shields to cowrite the script. Besides 2015's festive horror tale (and personal favorite of yours truly), Shields is also the scribe behind the Godzilla Vs. Kong screenplay.

So as you can probably see, not the worst choice to bring on board when you're making a movie about an iconic monster, as Cregger & Co. certainly are. What Shields and the movie's director will have said monster doing, though, is still an unknown to us. We know that the Gladys spinoff will be set before the horrors seen in Weapons, but plot specifics are still very much under wraps, if decided at all.

Weapons is available to stream now on HBO Max.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.

Follow Popverse for upcoming event coverage and news

Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.