Monarch: Legacy of Monsters returns to Apple TV tomorrow with Season 2, and while Godzilla is joined by King Kong this time around, the only other Kaiju in play is the newly created, mysterious "Titan X."
The MonsterVerse movies don't shy away from putting a fresh spin on Toho's most iconic creations, but Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is indeed restricted when it comes to which Titans are featured on the small screen.
This isn't hugely surprising, and despite taking place in the same world, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is only loosely connected to the movies.
Talking to ComicBook (via SFFGazette.com), Executive Producer Tory Tunnell explained, "I mean, yes, [some Kaiju are off-limits] but not in a way that it feels like gatekeeping. We want the world to feel as big as possible. And so for us, we don’t want to be overlapping with what the features are doing, because that just narrows the world."
"We’re always trying to look for what story hasn’t been told, and how can we tell that in a really effective way?" he continued. "And how can we take pieces that we know are coming or that came before us and have it all feel [like] a piece, and all feel cohesive in a way that also surprises and doesn’t exhaust."
As for the decision to create Titan X, Tunnell joked about "some bad auditions from Mothra" before adding, "We felt like it would be really fun to do something new and to give audiences something that they weren’t expecting and to have that Titan navigating [parts] of the planet that we haven’t seen before. And allowing it to have its own sort of personality in its own way."
He went on to say that the Kaiju "is very bespoke to the drama that we’ve conceived" for Season 2, and added, "It felt like it had to be inevitable that it was this Titan and no other."
While some fans will inevitably be disappointed that no Kaiju cameos are planned for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters when it returns, Titan X looks like a major threat to Godzilla and Kong. Plus, that fan-favourite duo is expected to face plenty of familiar threats in next year's Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 will pick up with the fate of Monarch—and the world—hanging in the balance. The dramatic saga reveals buried secrets that reunite our heroes (and villains) on Kong's Skull Island, and a new, mysterious village where a mythical Titan rises from the sea.
The ripple effects of the past make waves in the present day, blurring the bonds between family, friend and foe — all with the threat of a titan event on the horizon. The series will feature Kong, Godzilla and introduce a new Titan: the enigmatic Titan X, now officially on the loose. Titan X isn’t just another monster; it’s a living cataclysm. When its massive bioluminescent form breaks the surface of the ocean, the world seems to hold its breath.
Titan X stands at the centre of Season 2's core mystery as an ancient force emerging from the deep, its purpose uncertain, its power unmatched, and its awe and terror in equal measure.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters stars Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Joe Tippett, and Anders Holm. Season 2 guest stars include Takehiro Hira, Amber Midthunder, Curtiss Cook, Cliff Curtis, Dominique Tipper, and Camilo Jiménez Varón.
The 10-episode second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will premiere globally on Apple TV on Friday, February 27.