Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope all of you had a nice morning because we got our first images of the upcoming Monsterverse Apple TV show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The images were posted by Apple TV on social media and these images have confirmed a few things about the show.
First two images revealed takes place in the same scene with Anna Sawai as "Cate" looking up at Godzilla. We can speculate this is taking place when Godzilla first made landfall in San Fransisco in the 2014 movie. Since the show is suppose to take place right after the events of Godzilla (2014), this could be a flashback scene to when Cate first comes face to face with Godzilla. We see that it is raining, there are school buses that are evacuating perhaps children, there are a few suspension wires that can be associated with the Golden Gate bridge that Godzilla destroys and the military are fleeing from the scene. In the second image, we see Godzilla sporting his 2014 design and roaring towards the direction of Keiko and those that are running away. It could may as well be that Godzilla is roaring at the male MUTO that he chases after in the movie or he could be reacting to being attacked by the military. He does look smaller here for some reason. He does not look quite as big as he looked in the movie in my opinion. Either way, this is a really great shot of Godzilla and I am sure this will be featured in a trailer for the show to get people hyped up.
UPDATE: I misidentified Anna Sawai for Mari Yamamoto and was corrected.
Next two images we get are of Wyatt Russell and Kurt Russell officially confirmed to play "Lee Shaw." On Apple TV's post, it reveals that Wyatt and Kurt are playing young and old versions of the same character. This is also supporting the fact the show is going back and forth between the present day and the 50's. What I am still curious about is whether this show will tie in some stuff from the graphic novel Godzilla Awakening. The graphic novel tells the story of how the secret organization Monarch was established, how Dr. Serizawa and his father first joined Monarch, how Godzilla first appeared, and how the hydrogen bomb was used to kill both Godzilla and the Shinomura on the Bikini Atoll. I have been advocating to see the graphic novels be tied in with the Monsterverse in live action or at least the events be mentioned in a movie or show since they did feel out of place. Seeing this at least helps the graphic novels feel more connected with the rest of the Monsterverse.
On the official Godzilla website, the synopsis reads, "Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Fransisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters tracks two siblings following 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."
At the time of writing, there is no trailer and release date for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, as of yet. However, with these photos now having been dropped online by Apple TV I hope to see a trailer soon along with a release date. It has to come out before the upcoming movie Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, which releases on March 15, 2024. Apparently, the show has some information that connects it with the movie. My only hope is that the show actually turns out to be a good show with a good story, great characters, and plenty of monster action.
What are your thoughts on the first images for Monarch? Does this have you excited or do you need to see more? Do you think we will see a trailer soon? Leave a comment in the comments section of your thoughts on these images. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and TRUTH Social to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.