Godzilla is back. And this time the iconic monster, who has been a mainstay of popular culture since his debut in 1954, is headed to uncharted territory: a live-action streaming series.
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is set to debut globally on Apple TV+ on Nov. 17. And the trailer has just dropped. Watch it above.
“Monarch” takes place within the already established MonsterVerse that began with 2014’s “Godzilla” and is still ongoing (next year sees the release of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”). The new show is set over several timelines, using the Monarch monster-chasing organization (which, if you’ll recall, is sort of like the MonsterVerse’s version of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as the show’s main focus.
Both Kurt and Wyatt Russell play Lee Shaw, a Monarch member whose exploits in the 1950s will threaten the organization today. Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski also star, with at least a guest appearance by John Goodman, who played senior Monarch official Bill Randa in 2017’s elegantly berserk “Kong: Skull Island.” (He can be seen and heard in the trailer.)
According to the official release, the new series promises to reveal “buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.” Doesn’t that sound like fun?
The 10-episode series hails from Legendary Television and executive producers Chris Black and Matt Fraction, with the first two episodes directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”). While two animated series based on the character were ultimately produced (1978’s “Godzilla” and 1998’s “Godzilla: The Series,” which served as a spin-off of the first American-made Godzilla feature and followed another fictional organization called H.E.A.T.), “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is the first-ever live-action series featuring the timeless monster.
In addition to the “Monarch” series, there is a new Japanese feature film called “Godzilla Minus One” that will debut at the Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 1 before going wide in Japan on Nov. 3, with a stateside release to follow (a release date hasn’t been revealed yet).
But honestly, you can’t ever get enough Godzilla.
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” debuts on Apple TV+ on Nov. 17.
