Apple TV brings Giant Lizard and Big Monkey to streaming, with humans actually worth a damn!
Created by: Chris Black & Matt Fraction
Starring: Anna Sawai, Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell
Rated TV-14
Release Date: February 27, 2026 – May 1, 2026
This review may contain spoilers
Waiting for Godzilla
Since the American Godzilla movies come out every three years, that’s just too long for establishing a movie-connected universe. So Apple TV started a show on their streaming service, giving a behind-the-scenes view of the organization Monarch as they discover other gigantic titans other than Godzilla and [King] Kong. The show builds up an explanation for Monarch’s research and containment of the big monsters without requiring viewers to watch the upcoming movies.
Legacy of Monsters (Season 2)
While trying to save Lee Shaw (played by father/son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell) from the events of Season 1, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai, FX’s Shogun) and the main team accidentally release a new monster codenamed Titan X on Earth. Not only will Godzilla keep the new enemy at bay, but Kong is also on the show, keeping his Skull Island safe.
Cate’s half-brother, Kentaro (played by Ren Watabe), is pulled into rival group Apex by Isabel Simmons (Amber Midthunder, Prey), who wants Titan X to kill Kong so they can do shady science-y stuff on the island.
MonsterVerse
This show forms its own branch of the MonsterVerse, a connected universe of the newest American Godzilla and Kong movies. The movies tend to be big monsters fighting each other and toppling cities; meanwhile, humans pop up with their own story to save the day and distract us monster lovers from watching them fight.
The main story in Monarch is set between Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The earlier timeline is set between Godzilla’s first appearance in the ‘50s and the discovery of Skull Island in the ‘70s. There is a bit of time-line jumping, and it gets a little weird keeping track.
Here… there be monsters…. sometimes
Unfortunately, I have to say that neither Godzilla nor Kong gets a lot of film time in the show.
But it’s not called Godzilla or Kong; it’s Monarch. So its main focus is actually supposed to be on the humans dealing with human drama and stuff.
Yay…
But, at least the story-writing is pretty solid, and the characters are worth watching (especially Anna Sawai). And to think, what started as Cate discovering her father had a secret Japanese family led to her and her half-brother fighting monsters, uncovering government conspiracies, and dealing with sketchy Monarch rivals.
Not to mention Cate survived Godzilla’s visit to San Francisco in 2014, unfortunately losing a bus full of children. Obviously, this and learning her father had a second family is a lot to cope with, and she struggles with the trauma when not being chased down by monsters.
Still… it could use more Godzilla, but I say that about everything. Just think how much better Oppenheimer would have been if it ended with his atomic bomb testings leading to Godzilla. Just sayin’.
Double the Russells, double the Frequency
Easily the highlight of the show is both Kurt and Wyatt Russell playing the same character, Shaw, at different times. Not only is it awesome having a legendary actor like Kurt Russell in a Godzilla show, but his real-life son, Wyatt (who is making it big in the Marvel universe as John Walker), plays the younger version of Shaw. They have the same looks and voice.
Shaw is also the main action star in the show. Both young and old versions get into firefights and stand-offs with smaller yet still dangerous monsters.
Both Russells have a moment between each other in Season 2, in a bizarre rift moment, communicating with each other through a radio.
Legacy of Monarch
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a fun series that honestly feels more serious than the latest Godzilla movies. It feels grounded even with people messing with interdimensional portals and time displacements.
The show handles the human part of the MonsterVerse better than the movies. It opens viewers to the organization not being as noble as we first thought, and it adds the main cast dealing with personal problems of deceptive families and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). It makes for good television.
Again, could always use more Godzilla.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Season 2) is streaming on Apple TV.
