The first season of Legendary’s MonsterVerse TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters ran on Apple TV+ from November into January (you can read our own Alex Maidy’s review of the first batch of episodes HERE), and while Godzilla was an important figure in that season, it wrapped up with an episode that indicated Kong might be taking the spotlight if there were to be a follow-up. The show was co-developed by Chris Black (Star Trek: Enterprise) and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye), and during a recent interview with Gold Derby, Black said that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 is aiming to be bigger and better – while giving viewers the Kong action they’re hoping to see.
Black told Gold Derby (with thanks to our friends at Bloody Disgusting for the transcription), “I think where we left the season gave us so much fertile territory for storytelling. Keiko comes back, we appear to have lost Colonel Shaw, we have this reunion with the family… that feels like a great launch pad for season 2. We want to continue to tell this human story, we want to continue to tell the story of the Randa family and Kate and Kentaro and their father Hiroshi and now their grandmother Keiko. But there also is a hunger for more spectacle, for more monsters. How do we make it bigger and better? We reveal Kong at the end of the first season so there’s gonna be an expectation you’re gonna see more of Kong that we want to deliver on.“
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the latest chapter in Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse series, which currently consists of Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and the Netflix animated series Skull Island.
The ten episode first season was set after “the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real” (as seen in Godzilla 2014). It tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw, taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga – spanning three generations – reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.
The cast includes Anna Sawai, Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters comes our way from Legendary Television. Matt Shakman (WandaVision) directed the first two episodes. Black, Fraction, and Shakman executive produce the series with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures, as well as Andy Goddard, Brad Van Arragon, and Andrew Colville. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd., the owner of the Godzilla character.
Are you looking forward to seeing Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 and finding out what this show is going to do with Kong? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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