The real monsters were the mysterious (government?) agents we met along the way. That seems to be at least part of the theme of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Apple TV’s Monsterverse series from Chris Black (Severance) and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye). Said strange agents were on the scene when monsters destroyed San Francisco, taking pictures rather than helping.
Clearly, they need to be investigated, their secrets uncovered. Which seems to be where Kurt Russell comes in.
Kurt and Wyatt Russell are playing the same character decades apart, as the synopsis explains:
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 (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), 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.
It’s odd that this synopsis doesn’t even name the young woman who’s clearly set on uncovering Monarch’s secrets—one of which involves her own father. (That would be Cate, played by Anna Sawai.) But there’s so much going on here: the “inescapable reality” of monsters, the requisite shot of monster eggs (yikes yikes yikes), narrow escapes, explosions—and, oh, yeah: Godzilla rising out of the sea like a walking mountain.
Word out of New York Comic-Con is that the show’s first episode is great, and it certainly looks promising, like a compelling mix of conspiracy, mystery, monster mayhem, and human-scale drama in a drastically changed world. You can find out for yourself when Monarch: Legacy of Monsters premieres on Apple TV+ on November 17th.
This post was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
