Apple TV+ has just revealed the first trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ original series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, along with the confirmation it will premiere on November 17th, 2023 on Apple TV+. The series follows the journey of siblings, one of them being played by Anna Sawai, as they uncover their father’s past with Monarch, an organization that is dedicated to researching kaiju. In the process of uncovering their father’s role in the organization, they cross paths with Lee Shaw, portrayed by Kurt and Wyatt Russell in different time periods.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is set in the MonsterVerse franchise, after the events of 2014’s Godzilla. The MonsterVerse’s latest cinematic installment, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, will be released on April 12th, 2024.
The First Trailer For Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Teases Mind-Blowing Kaiju Action and A Compelling Mystery
The first trailer (see below) for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters teases more details of the series’ plot and how Godzilla and the other kaiju will factor into it. The teaser begins with narration from a film recording of some kind by John Goodman’s Bill Randa, seemingly during the events of Kong: Skull Island. Later shots in the trailer indicate we may see a full-blown flashback to Randa’s experience on the island before his death in Kong: Skull Island.
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Later in the trailer, the narration shifts to Kurt Russell’s Lee Shaw, as he explains what Monarch was intended to be. The narration between Randa and Shaw is paired with shots of the main sibling characters looking at Monarch documents and other Monarch-related materials, as well as flashbacks to Shaw’s time as a member of Monarch.
New Kaiju Will Appear and Familiar Faces From The MonsterVerse’s Previous Films Will Return In Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
The most exciting new detail from the trailer is the reveal of a seemingly new kaiju in the MonsterVerse. One shot, which may be on Skull Island because of the trees, shows a kaiju flying overhead. Another shot shows what seems to be the same kaiju bursting out of the rubble. There’s also a brief shot showing a spider-like kaiju. The trailer didn’t tease Kaiju fights, but it’s more than guaranteed they will be featured in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
The teaser strongly hints the “father” of the main sibling characters is Bill Randa. Perhaps, Anna Sawai’s character becomes compelled to research her family’s history after surviving her encounter with Godzilla at the Golden Gate Bridge and realizes her familial connection to the events of Kong: Skull Island. This could then lead her to meet Lee Shaw, who the trailer indicates may have had a connection of sorts to Bill Randa as well.
Speaking of Lee Shaw, there’s a shot in the trailer that shows someone painting a design on an atomic bomb in a flashback. This might be a reference to a shot in 2014’s Godzilla, where an atomic bomb with a no-kaiju paint job is seen in film reel footage. This might confirm my previous speculation on whether we will see the ’50s atomic bomb attacks on Godzilla from Shaw’s perspective.
The first trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a very promising look at the MonsterVerse’s first live-action foray into television. The various references to events from the other films and the new world-building details glimpsed in the trailer will make for an exciting new chapter in the franchise.
About Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
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 when 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.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will premiere on November 17th, 2023. Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will arrive in theaters on March 15, 2024.
What are your thoughts on the first trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters? Which kaiju from a previous MonsterVerse installment do you want to see in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters? Will you be watching the series when it premieres this November? Let us know by giving The Illuminerdi a shout-out on our social media because we’re always around and always watching.
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SOURCE: Apple
