Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Apple's live-action Godzilla series, will officially roar its way onto the company's streaming platform in November.
Confirmed at the end of the forthcoming sci-fi action-drama series' first trailer, the first-ever US-developed Godzilla TV show – which is set after 2014's Godzilla – will debut on one of the world's best streaming services on Friday, November 17. It'll launch with a two-episode premiere on that date, with subsequent entries releasing weekly until the finale on Friday, January 12, 2024.
After a batch of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters first-look images arrived in mid-August, we'd been expecting a teaser to stomp online at some point. And, after numerous teases on Apple TV Plus' social media channels recently, we've finally got some footage to pore over. Check the trailer out below:
As the show's title suggests, we'll be seeing far more kaiju than just Godzilla itself. The trailer briefly teases other monsters, such as a huge bird not unlike Rodan – the latter whom appeared in 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters – and the giant spider-like creatures from 2017's Kong: Skull Island.
Speaking of the latter film, we also see John Goodman's Bill Randa in a couple of shots, indicating that Skull Island's events will also factor into Monarch: Legacy of Monster's story. In short: expect this series to give us some Titan-on-Titan action to revel in, as well as more lore surrounding the Monsterverse itself.
For those who missed the plot synopsis in our aforementioned Monarch: Legacy of Monsters first-look images article, here it is again: "Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco [in 2014's Godzilla], 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, 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."
Here's hoping Monarch: Legacy of Monsters can, well, live up to the Monsterverse's legacy, and install itself as one of the best Apple TV Plus shows around. And who knows? Maybe we'll learn a bit more about it from Apple's entertainment division during the Apple September 2023 event, at which the company is expected to unveil its new iPhone.
Father-son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell will both play Lee Shaw in the show, with the former playing the character in the present and the latter portraying Shaw's younger self in flashback scenes. Joining the pair and Goodman on the cast by Anna Sawai, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Joe Tippett, and Elisa Lasowski.
Chris Black, whose previous works include Star Trek: Enterprise and Masterminds, has co-written and co-executively produced the show alongside Marvel comics writer Matt Fraction. Another Marvel almunus – MCU director Matt Shakman, who directed WandaVision on Disney Plus – has directed Monarch's first two episodes. Shakman, Joby Harold (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and Tory Tunnell (Robin Hood) are also part of its executive producing squad. Toho, who created the Godzilla character, is represented on the executive producers' team by Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita.
The next six to eight months promise to be a great time to be a Godzilla fan. Alongside Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the legendary kaiju will also star in one of 2023's Japan-based new movies called Godzilla Minus One, which debuts on November 1, while in early 2024 the Monsterverse's fifth movie entry – Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire – will fight its way into cinemas.
Here's that all-important release date again: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will exclusively launch on Apple TV Plus on Friday, November 17.
