Good day, ladies and gents! This morning we got our very first trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters! The show is a Godzilla spin-off that takes place after the events of Godzilla (2014). Following after the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the MUTOs that leveled San Fransisco, and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, two siblings follow 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.
We were hinted that this trailer was coming last night by Apple TV and Legendary Entertainment on social media showing a small reel with computers displaying redacted files. With the trailer online, we can now dive deeper into what this show will really unravel.
The trailer begins with an older Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell) turning on a projector and playing a film reel. We then start hearing Bill Randa's voice (played by John Goodman) giving a good bye message to his family saying he hopes the message will get to them and wishes he could go back in time to fix all of the mistakes he made and hopes to leave something behind as a legacy. During the monologue, we see people with gas masks and a young Lee Shaw (played by Wyatt Russell) taking off his gas mask. We then see Cate Randa (played by Anna Sawai) opening a locker and finding her father's satchel with Monarch's logo imprinted on it and a home video of what looked like a normal day on the beach that turned into this family spotting Godzilla swimming in the water followed by seeing Bill Randa from what looked like it was taking place around the time he was on Skull Island.
I really love the grainy film reel as it goes back to the 2014 movie that made Godzilla mysterious like the famous cryptids like the Loch Ness monster or Bigfoot that have been filmed and photographed over the years. It pulls back from the more sci-fi elements we got in later Monsterverse movies like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs Kong. Seeing John Goodman reprise his role as Bill Randa even makes this universe where Godzilla and Kong exist at the same time feel a whole lot bigger in a more realistic way.
The trailer cuts to 2014 where we see San Fransisco in ruins in the aftermath of the battle. We see Shaw talking to Cate sharing intricate details of why he joined Monarch and how he thought the organization was supposed to help the world and suddenly turned upside down when they began hunting monsters. We see the hydrogen bomb from the 2014 movie that was used in an attempt to kill Godzilla at the Bikini Atoll. We see Cate, her brother Kentaro (played by Ren Watabe), and May (played by Kiersey Clemons) finding files that were redacted bringing the Randa legacy to an even bigger mystery. We see SOTA (played by Shota Tsuji) looking up at something and it cuts to a our first look at one of the monsters in this show, which is a large creature flying over tree line.
I will be honest, my first immediate thought was Gyaos from the Gamera series as it looked similar to Gyaos. Of course, it is not that monster as revealed later in the trailer, but I will say the way we got our first glimpse of this monster is quite similar to a scene in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe when the Gyaos first appeared. I have also been watching the new Netflix series Gamera: Rebirth, which I highly recommend you go and watch after reading this post. If you have been waiting for a good kaiju anime and Gamera content, then you don't have to wait any longer. It is a really good show. So make sure you check that out.
Next thing we see is young Lee Shaw in some sort of gear and climbing into a sphere shaped pod almost like they are about to go on a deep dive. It cuts to Cate arriving at Narita airport and looking at the sign for a "Godzilla Evacuation Route." We have seen leaked photos that showed signs for evacuation shelters last year and again last night for a teaser promo image. This actually makes the most logical sense for a universe like this to have evacuation shelters in-case of a monster attack. Having a monster come to attack a city is like experiencing a hurricane or earthquake and the best possible options are either evacuate the city or seek shelter.
We see Godzilla rising out of the ocean lured towards the Bikini Atoll with the hydrogen bomb and older Lee Shaw telling Cate to come with him if she wants her questions answered. We get a glimpse of another monster that looks like a giant spider or crustacean. The best guess here could be the Mother Longlegs from Kong: Skull Island as the environment this monster is traversing has similar terrain to Skull Island. On top of that, we do see Bill Randa one more time on Skull Island running from something. Could it be the Mother Longlegs or could it be something else like the Skull Crawler or, perhaps, Kong?
We see the flying creature from earlier bursting out of some sort of containment cell. We get a bit more detail this time as it seems to have dragon like features such as horns, scales, wyvern-like wings and appendages, and the trident tipped tail (Again, not Gyaos).
We see Kentaro staring at something, a graph or mapping system, an boat that has been ship wrecked for a long time tipping over. If this is Skull Island, then it could very well be the S.S. Wanderer, which had also been seen in Kong: Skull Island being used as a temple for the Iwi Tribe to worship Kong.
The trailer ends with Cate in San Fransisco during the time of the attack in the 2014 movie and seeing Godzilla up close, we see the title Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and the official release date: November 17th, just one week before Thanksgiving! For kaiju fans, we are eating good this fall. It all started with Gamera: Rebirth, which released on Netflix yesterday, followed up with this show, and Godzilla Minus One on December 1st. My prediction is once this show ends in February 2024, Legendary will begin the marketing campaign for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which will be coming out on April 12, 2024 instead of March 15, 2024. In other words, I am all hyped up for this and I can't wait to see how this show plays out when it drops in November. Make sure you have plenty of popcorn and strap yourselves in because this hype train is picking up speed.
What are your thoughts on the trailer and upcoming line-up for the rest of 2023 and 2024? Do you think this show will be good or do you think you need to see more? Which show or movie are you excited for most? Leave a comment in the comment section of your thoughts on the trailer and which kaiju film or show you are most excited for. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and TRUTH Social to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.