With the show’s release just two weeks away, Apple has pulled back the curtain on the upcoming series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Taking place in the same universe as films like Godzilla vs. Kong, this figures to be a full-blown monster-filled spectacle for the streaming age. This first clip very much speaks to that, and it lets us catch up with a familiar character. John Goodman’s Bill Randa returns and he’s got a giant spider on his tail. Check it out.
Goodman was a major part of 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which took place in the ‘70s. Here, we see Randa once again fighting for his life on Skull Island with a giant spider and another new beast duking it out as he watches on somewhat helplessly. The scale of it all is pretty impressive, considering this is a TV show and not a movie.
These MonsterVerse films have been gigantic blockbuster affairs thus far. The fact that they’re trying to pull off that same scale on TV is pretty interesting. It works in a three-minute clip. Can it work for ten episodes though? That remains to be seen. The synopsis for the series reads as follows:
“Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters 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 is led by Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt Russell, who will be playing Lee Shaw in the show’s different eras. Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski round out the main ensemble. Matt Fraction, Matt Shakman, Joby Harold, Tory Tunnell, Andy Goddard, Brad Van Arragon, Andrew Colville, Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita are on board as executive producers.
Aside from the show, the MonsterVerse is still going strong. Director Adam Wingard is returning for a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong titled Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. It is due to hit theaters next year. Nothing further has been confirmed beyond that but with the franchise now expanding to TV, it doesn’t seem like there are any plans to wind things down.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters premieres November 17 on Apple TV+.
