No modern-day franchise can be complete without at least one related live-action streaming series, and now Legendary’s Monsterverse is taking the inevitable step in that direction. Apple TV+ has ordered a series focusing on Godzilla and the Titans—one that picks up where the recent Godzilla vs. Kong (pictured above) leaves off.
Apple’s summary explains:
Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real, the series explores one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.
Buy the Book
The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories
One has to wonder how the “monsters are real” thing didn’t sink in after the first two Godzilla movies, but then again, Buffy did explain away vampires by saying they were “gangs on PCP.” Regardless, this description sounds much like many other spinoff series: secrets! Mysterious organizations! Perhaps there will even be a plot to use the monsters for an evil scientist’s gain!
That said, there’s reason to be optimistic about this as-yet unnamed series: It’s co-created by Matt Fraction, who is responsible for a lot of very excellent comics over the years (including the storyline that was borrowed for Marvel’s Hawkeye). Fraction is an executive producer alongside his co-creator Chris Black, who will be the series’ showrunner. Black also knows his SFF, having spent time as a writer and producer on Star Trek: Enterprise and Sliders.
This isn’t actually the first current Godzilla spin-off series in development; that would be the animated Skull Island. But Legendary clearly has bigger things in mind than just a cartoon or two. Apple’s announcement says, “Legendary’s Monsterverse is an expansive story universe of multi-layered experiences centering around humanity’s battle to survive in a world that is under siege by a catastrophic new reality—the monsters of our myths and legends are real.”
Can’t we just make friends with the monsters? Maybe get them to help with climate change somehow? Probably not.
