Do you generally regret the time spent throwing pieces that didn't come out of the kiln the way you'd originally envisioned? Even the utter disappointments? Perhaps it's not the same, but I suspect I'm not alone in accepting early on that the movie itself will likely be a disappointment on some level(s). Of course, it's the rare movie that doesn't disappoint. Keep in mind too, that Godzilla has yet to win an Oscar, yet that hasn't stopped legions from admiring him over the decades. So the bar really isn't that high, and for the fans, the movie will be the icing for the cake that they already baked/ate.

no, but for a few reasons.  one is that you always have a bit of mystery as to how a piece is going to come out: where it gets loaded in the kiln can affect how the glaze reacts; how much oxidation, etc..  more importantly, i am creating it.  if it doesn't work out, that's fine because i've still learned.  whereas, in speculating on someone else's work, if it disappoints, what have you learned?  other than to not engage in such speculation again.

one could argue the bar isn't set particularly high for, say, movie adapations of comic books.  but, no matter how low the bar, some movies manage to limbo under it. or even dig miles below it.

the upside in creating a mythos is there is nothing pre-existing to complain about variances from.  godzilla is not the comparison i'd choose, because a large part of the allure of such films is the camp.  they are god-awful..but that figures into the charm.  that and poor dubbing.  consider what happened with big budget attempts to remake godzilla.  crash.  burn.  flop.

whether or not the movie is great, i wonder if it can possibly survive it's own marketing.