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Fans of the Godzilla/Kong cinematic ‘Monsterverse’ were pretty excited when it was announced there would be a TV series to further develop the Monarch storyline that was introduced at the end of Kong: Skull Island, the notion that there was a secret organization out there that had a lot more information about these ‘Titans’ than anyone ever knew, and that set-up teased the arrival of some of the more famous monsters from Toho Studios … which we got in the second Godzilla movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (and perhaps that was a response to the complaints of Big G’s fans in regards to the never-before-see MUTOs introduced in the first Godzilla). But it was actually Skull Island that really set things in motion, and then that led to Godzilla vs Kong, which also introduced the Apex Corporation and MechaGodzilla into the storyline. So the big question upon the announcement of the series was — what will it tell us to deepen the story and where does it fit in the timeline? (And let’s not forget, there was a point when the movies were making money but not the kind of money the studio wanted and the future of the franchise was at stake, so the idea of a TV series at least gave the fans hope that the story would continue in some way.)
When casting was announced for the series, there was some excitement with the reveal of father and son actors Kurt and Wyatt Russell starring on the show, but some confusion about the rest of the cast, none of whom appeared in any of the movies. But the thought of the Russells sharing scenes together was enough to generate interest … and then the series premiered on November 17, 2023 and we learned that Kurt and Wyatt would not be sharing scenes because they were playing the younger and older versions of the same character, Lee Shaw, who has a long history with the Monarch organization. The series premiere also revealed the story takes place in 2015 during the aftermath of the first Godzilla movie, after ‘G-Day’ in 2014. We also got one little tidbit in the form of a cameo from John Goodman, who played Bill Randa in Skull Island, basically sending all of his research into the sea in the hopes that someone, somewhere would find it as he was caught in the middle of another battle of the Titans. Oh, and the series is not just set in 2015, time-hopping from the 1950s and 60s to the story’s present.
Note: If you have not watched the entire season, there will be story details in what follows from here that could be considered spoilers.
The 2015 characters include Cate Randa and Kentaro Randa, siblings who have never met because their father Hiroshi Randa had two families, one in San Francisco and one in Tokyo. It’s the news of his death that brings Cate to Japan to pick up his belongings from his office that she learns of his other family. To say the meeting of the brother and sister goes well is an overstatement. Cate just wants to get what she came for an leave, but an early warning of a possible Titan attack keeps her in town a little longer than she planned and she begins to grow more curious about her father’s work. Kentaro’s friend May knows her way around computer code and reluctantly offers to help them crack some of his encrypted files, but the hacking alerts the suits at Monarch that someone is trying to access something they should not and it’s not long before Monarch agent Tim is on their tail.
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The story jumps back to the 1950s where Lt. Lee Shaw is assigned to be a driver and security attachment for Dr. Keiko Miura, who is in the jungles of Asia studying Titan activity following Godzilla’s first appearance in Japan. Assisting her is … Bill Randa and it becomes quickly apparent that Lee and Bill might be getting into a love triangle with Keiko. There is some definite chemistry between her and Shaw, and while he obviously has feelings for her they are never really reciprocated. But the three of them form a unit to study the Titans and have discovered, with the help of a local, how to draw the monsters to the surface with specific soundwaves. At one point they do summon Godzilla, unaware that their military partners are planning to kill the monster in the process, but the mission fails and the whole future of Monarch hangs in the balance. Keiko and Bill’s research seems to point to some sort of underground tunnel system the Titans use to get from one place to another, but they accidentally unless some baby Titans that quickly swarm them and drag Keiko away, leaving Bill and Lee devastated. She also leaves a son, Hiroshi, whom it seems Bill adopts.
Back in 2015, once the Randas and May meet up with Shaw and bust him out of the senior facility where he lives — and that turns out to be more of a prison run by Monarch — they begin to follow the clues Hiroshi left behind which takes them to the Arctic — where we meet another new Titan — and the desert, and finally to the facility where Keiko disappeared. But Monarch is hot on their tail because, as it turns out, May’s name is not May, she worked for a company that was doing what she considered to be unethical projects on animals and she delivered a virus into the computer system that basically wiped everything out. To avoid prosecution, she was forced to snitch on the Randas and Shaw for Monarch, which just wanted them all to disappear. It was also revealed later in the series that the company May was working for was getting a rebrand to — Apex, tying the series to Godzilla vs Kong in the process. They all discover while in the desert that Hiroshi is very much alive, so they have to track him down, confront him and put his research to use because it seems that the world is on the brink of destruction from a Titan attack emanating from all of the exit points they have confirmed around the globe. But a disaster at the site where Keiko disappeared also takes Kay, Cate and Shaw, leaving Kentaro to pick up the pieces … which he is very reluctant to do. Meanwhile, Tim has had enough of Monarch’s rabid desire to destroy the Titans and implores Kentaro to help with the aid of his new friends at Apex.
Now up to Episode 8, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters was really more focused on the family dynamic than the monsters. The ‘Legacy” of the title doesn’t really refer to the monsters at all, it’s truly about the legacy of Monarch. We barely see Godzilla, only popping up briefly in two or three episodes, and there are none of the other famous Titans to be seen. The beastie in the Arctic actually gets more screen time than the big guy, so there may be some disappointment as the story just wades through the Randa family drama. But with the May-centric Episode 7 and jaw-dropping moment at the end of Episode 8 where our three characters fall into the Earth, things really pick up over the last two episodes.
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Where the three end up is most likely the ‘Hollow Earth’ world we first saw in Godzilla vs Kong (and will apparently revisit in the upcoming feature film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire). May, Cate and Shaw are disoriented in this strange world, and separated but Shaw finds May and then they have to find Cate. Shaw drops the bomb that May needs to listen to him because he’s been there before. And we see the mission with the young Shaw with the full support of the military to prove that Keiko and Bill’s theory of a ‘Hollow Earth’ where the Titans live was correct. Except it all goes horribly wrong, the launch pad for the ship to go to inner space is destroyed and it seems Shaw and his crew are dead, leaving the entire Monarch program in shambles. But Lee did survive and somehow made his way out, waking up in the hospital where no one will answer any of his questions. He finally takes a nurse hostage and is shocked to learn it’s now 1982, nearly 20 years after he disappeared and yet he does not look a day older. As far as he knows he’s only been gone for a few days. He’s also stunned to learn that the doctor is grown up Hiroshi, and that Bill Randa has died. And for his own good — and to keep him from spilling any beans — Monarch puts him up in the senior home where he stays until the kids break him out (finally giving us the explanation as to why this 90+ year old guy only looks in his 70s).
But there is an even more shocking revelation inside the Earth — Keiko is very much alive, first coming across Cate, saving her life with a makeshift bow and arrow before some creature eats her. It’s not long before Lee and May show up but when Lee hears Keiko’s voice he’s overcome with emotion, but also fearful to reveal himself to her. Asking, out of sight, how long she thinks she’s been here, she says it’s been a few months and Lee reveals himself to her telling her she’s been gone for 60-some years. Their only way out of what she’s dubbed Axis Mundi is by the ship that he originally rode in. Luckily because of the time difference, the thing still has some power so they need to fire it up and get home. But the only way to do that is to summon a Titan to create a portal back to the surface.
Using the sonic waves that draw the Titans in, the four are strapped in and ready to go except they’ve summoned two Titans, one of them being Godzilla and a battle royale ensues, accidentally detaching one of the power cables to the ship. Keiko wants to go out and reattach it, but Lee insists that she has to be the one to pilot the ship. Trying to avoid getting squashed, Lee finds the battle has moved the ship making it nearly impossible to reconnect the cable but he finally gets it and the ship begins to move. Keiko is calling to him from the hatch to run and he barely makes it to the ship, but his barely is not enough and he’s weighing down the ship so he sacrifices himself so the other three can return home.
Where they arrive appears to be on the tarmac of an airport, a team of people including Tim — who basically told his boss at Monarch to take this job and shove it — waiting to greet them and quickly hustle them away. Cate and May are very confused to see Tim and are even more confused when he tells them this is not Monarch. Oh … and it’s 2017. They’ve been missing for two years. May’s ex-boss steps up, to May’s surprise, and it all comes together that Apex is now running things. Keiko is also reunited with her son but there is little time for chit chat as alarms are going off all over the place. The arrival of a Titan is imminent. And that Titan is …
Kong.
End scene.
So was Monarch: Legacy of Monsters a success? Somewhat, depending on what you are expecting. If you are here for the monsters, you will be greatly disappointed. If you’re interested in the history, the legacy, of Monarch then it should be of some interest. Personally I was just a bit disappointed that it took so long to really get cooking. It was a very slow burn with questions and mysteries building up, but that seventh episode that was almost all about May, ‘Will the Real May Please Stand Up?’ (and we also learn that May is not her real name, but she’s fine being called by this point), and the reveal of Apex (and honestly, I had to look it up after the episode to see what the importance was because I’d forgotten that detail from the movie) really set the ball rolling. The character and story revelations that came after were satisfying, so I’d say that the second part of the season was the more exciting part of the story. Of course the cliffhanger ending left us with a whole bunch of questions, like — does this tie into the upcoming movie in any way? Probably not as Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released in 2019, so the series is sort of a little pocket universe withing the film universe. That also leaves me to wonder if this series, should it be picked up for a second season (and one would hope it is after that cliffhanger ending!), will suffer in the way Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD did, being able to reference events in the big screen movies while the movies basically ignore the events of the series. And how deeply will they be able to tie the series to the movies? Will we get to see the creation of MechaGodzilla? And if the show is essentially about Monarch, will it become more about Apex? And will we ever see any crossover of characters? (There actually was a crossover Easter egg in Episode 7 when May’s boss is on the phone with her boss as the new Apex name is revealed. The man she was talking to was Walter Simmons, played by Demián Bichir in the movie, the billionaire egomaniac behind Apex. Was that his voice? Will we see any other Titans like King Ghidorah, Mothra or Rodan? Is Lee Shaw dead? Leaving him in Axis Mundi makes it easy to bring Kurt Russell back since little time will have passed for Shaw.
Those questions are all up in the air for now, and if/when Apple TV orders a second season we’ll still probably have all of those questions because the storyline will most likely be kept under wraps until the new episodes premiere. For now, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a mostly satisfying series that whets our appetite for the new movie, deepens the cinematic story a bit, and actually leaves us wanting more. I hope a second season will be more focused on the monsters and the drama between Monarch and Apex rather than more family drama, but that the series exists at all is something to be happy about.
What did you think of this season? Sound off in the comments below!
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