Thanks to set photos, we know that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 is currently being shot in Australia, which means that before too long we'll be watching the sophomore season of this Monsterverse show.
After the first season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters hit Apple TV Plus in late 2023, the Godzilla and King Kong tie-in series proved a hit, and so people weren't surprised when a second season was confirmed.
They were surprised, though to learn that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 is just one of many Monsterverse series on the way to Apple, with several spin-offs coming out too.
Apple has confirmed some details of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, including some juicy information about further series in the world of the Monsterverse, but there's a lot yet we don't know.
So here's what we know about the second season of Monarch so far, including how it sits alongside the newest Monsterverse movie Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 potential release dates
Apple hasn't announced a release date for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, but don't expect it to come along any time soon. News in mid-April 2024 was that the show had been renewed, implying that production hadn't fully begun yet.
It'll likely be at least a year until season 2 arrives, though it could be even longer. The gap from season 1's announcement to its release was roughly 18 months.
The first season of Monarch aired from November 2023, and all of it is on Apple TV Plus right now. That's where season 2 will end up eventually.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 cast
Thanks to behind-the-scenes set photos from Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, we know a few faces who'll be returning. Confirmed returning cast members are:
- Anna Sawai as Cate Randa
- Ren Watabe as Kentaro Randa
- Kiersey Clemons as May
- Joe Tippett as Tim
- Takehiro Hira as Hiroshi
We could see any number of cast members from season 1 return, due to the timeline-jumping nature of the show, and maybe also characters from the movies. Here's a cast list from Monarch season 1 who might also show up:
- Wyatt Russell as young Lee Shaw
- Kurt Russell as old Lee Shaw
- Mari Yamamoto as Keiko
- Anders Holm as young Bill Randa
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 plot
While Apple hasn't given any hints as to what will happen in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2, we can guess a little bit by how season 1 ended. Spoilers ensue, of course.
At the end of season 1, Kentaro and Cate are reunited with estranged and presumed-dead father Hiroshi, as well as presumed-dead grandmother Keiko who's not aged thanks to her residence in the hollow Earth.
This sets up the family to become important players in Monarch, given their collective knowledge of monster behavior and science. However if they do return to monster-hunting, it might not be with Monarch.
Monarch operative Tim defected to private company Apex (villains of Godzilla vs Kong) during Legacy of Monsters' final episode, and he's also the person who rescues Cate, May and Keiko from the hollow Earth. So maybe they'll choose to side with Apex over Monarch going forward.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 spin-offs
As well as announcing a second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (and only a second season, so far), Apple also confirmed that it had greenlit multiple spin-off Monsterverse shows "based on the franchise".
Apple hasn't stated what these spin-offs will focus on so far, but each of the new Monsterverse movies and TV shows expands more and more of the world so there are many directions in which the shows can go.
While any fans online are claiming that one of the Monarch spin-offs will focus on the insect titan Mothra, which has been featured in Monsterverse movies, this has not been confirmed by official sources and should just be considered speculation for now.
We'll update this article as and when the Legacy of Monsters spin-offs are detailed.
How Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 ties in to Godzilla x Kong
The newest Monsterverse movie is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which hit theaters several months after Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' final episode. There are plenty of ways the TV show links to the movie, but bear in mind that these are all very spoilery for both properties!
While Godzilla vs Kong brought private company Apex Cybernetics to the front as the bad guys, creating a robot version of Godzilla to fight the real one, Godzilla x Kong returns us to the story of Monarch instead, which barely had a prescence in the former movie.
However Monarch gives us reason to think that Apex might be back, or at least its antics anyway: its seventh episode reveals that Apex Cybernetics is actually just a front for Monarch's more ethically-dubious science.
Legacy of Monsters also teed up an idea that Godzilla x Kong uses in full. The TV show showed us something that previous films hadn't: while early movies make monsters seem incredibly rare, Monarch tells us that the world of the Monsterverse is absolutely chock-full of these titans. Our characters can't go anywhere without bumping into some dangerous creature or other.
This is confirmed in Godzilla x Kong as maps show us that there are countless creatures dotted around the planet. In fact, they keep attacking cities, and Godzilla is required to come to humanity's defense constantly. And when Godzilla goes on a trek to the arctic, it's pointed out that there are multiple titans he could be going to visit. Suffice to say, the Earth is a more dangerous place than Godzilla made us believe, and there are plenty more nasty monsters for our characters to bump into!
We also see in Godzilla x Kong a few plot points that could be very important in further seasons of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters that pertain to the titular organization. It's mentioned that, while Monarch is in charge of monitoring the hollow Earth, various world governments are very keen to remove them from this post in order to exploit the new world.
That's why Monarch is quick to send a tiny and ill-equipped team of operatives to explore the attack on an outpost: it wants to nip this problem in the bud as quick as possible. Given the pressures we're told Monarch is under, it'd make sense that this trigger-happy organization could get itself into more trouble that Legacy of Monsters season 2 explores.
