Apple TV’s Godzilla show has the juice the Monsterverse was missing

In the span of just four films (along with a few graphic novels and an underrated Netflix cartoon about King Kong), the “Monsterverse” has evolved quite a bit. The original goal of making an American Godzilla movie was a pseudo Spielbergian one. However, it quickly evolved into a studio-driven universe. In this way, the 2014 Godzilla stThe following are some examples of how to get started:s in stark contrast against all that came after it; its atmospheric restraint was quickly replaced by a “dumping all the action figures out of the toy box” approach in later sequels.

Of course, this is the nature of most sequels in many genres, but it means that there’s little thematic connective tissue between the mood of Godzilla and Godzilla, King of MonstersYou can also find out more about Godzilla vs. Kong. The sequels obviously imply a familiarity with the monsters involved, so comfortable as they are with mining Godzilla’s Japanese mythology for its classic foes. But we never really see that in the universe of the films — how does a world become accustomed to multiple giant monsters roaming around all of a sudden? The upcoming Apple TV Plus, Monarch Legacy of MonstersI am here to help answer this question.

Or at least, you know, make it clear that we’re not all suddenly cool with joining Team Godzilla just because he happened to beat the hell out of some other monsters that one time.

Apple TV Plus

Apple TV Plus

It’s in the aftermath of this San Francisco brawl in the 2014 film that we find survivor Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), a woman about to be swept up in Legacy of Monsters’ globe-trotting (and time-hopping) adventure. It’s one that puts focus on the humans that are forced to grasp for understanding in the wake of (what seems like) a monster apocalypse. And there’s a lot to learn: Through multiple generations of the secretive government organization Monarch and the families left in the dark by its shady activities, we watch a world discover kaiju and then, eventually, attempt to survive them. Food chain upended Legacy of MonstersThis new step towards a posthuman hierarchy is the focus of this article.

Of course, Monsterverse devotees know that this is an area that the films haven’t really done much with. The only exceptions are a few actors who were allowed to chew the scenery in their films, such as Bryan Cranston or Brian Tyree Henry. Godzilla vs. KongHumans have not been a major selling point in the Monsterverse. They’re mostly there to explain things, commentate on the action like it’s WrestleMania, or run. Even Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa, named after the most famous human character in the Japanese original, does little more than serve as a stoic kaiju whisperer.

Here, though, we get actual character intrigue and development — the best of this comes from the trio of Sawai’s Cate, Ren Watabe as Kentaro, and Kiersey Clemons as May. We spend a lot of time with the characters as they unravel the mysteries surrounding Monarch, and their families. This is what makes the show so compelling. The show is based on the fact that everything they come across feels bigger than them. Even the most confident among them, like Kurt Russell’s Lee Shaw — a character who has been around since Monarch’s early days and is aware of the skeletons in its closet — is still dwarfed by the scale of the discoveries. And while contained in a sci-fi plot, it’s pretty relatable to what one imagines an Earth-wide siege by kaiju to be.

Apple TV Plus

Apple TV Plus

It makes all the difference in this part of Monsterverse. Set primarily in the present — but with glimpses into the past, allowing Kurt Russell and his own son Wyatt to play the same swaggering character — Monarch The film is full of details which indicate a new, uncomfortable status for humanity. Godzilla contingency signs and instructions are prominently displayed throughout Japan. These urge the public to prepare for a monster invasion by gathering in bunkers. It’s amazing to watch people go through this, and experience the trauma that a city-wide attack would cause. Monarch’s scenes of human interaction aren’t just filler on the way to the next screeching radioactive beast.

It’s handy, too, because those beasts (at least in the five episodes that Apple TV Plus has allowed us to screen early,) come sparingly. Like the 2014 film, they’re mostly glimpsed as a way to inspire astonishment. The Godzilla attack on the bridge from the 2014 movie is framed as hundreds trapped in the face of a god who doesn’t care, rather than playsets being smashed. Monarch’s obsession with these “titans” will inevitably lead to a kind of balance between fear and appreciation, but the series makes it clear that we’re not quite there yet. The series makes it clear that we’re not quite there yet.

This year is 2014. Godzilla film was by no means a masterpiece of characterization; its leading character essentially served as the cinematic equivalent of those “Look at how large a regular-sized human would seem standing next to a dinosaur” drawings. But by taking that film’s mood and its grasp of monsters as awe-inspiring — and sometimes horrifying — spectacle and blending it with a human component, we get a true link that the Monsterverse desperately needed. Godzilla will one day rule the world of monsters. Monarch Legacy of MonstersThe world is not ready for him to sit on the throne.

Monarch Legacy of MonstersApple TV Plus is releasing three new episodes starting Nov. 17.