Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Confirms Fan-Favorite Monsterverse Character Is Returning

The first official trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters was released today by Apple TV+ and Legendary, showing off the first footage from the upcoming Godzilla TV series, but also confirming a major connection to the larger Monsterverse. It was previously confirmed that the new series will be set around the events of the 2014 Godzilla reboot, but seemingly before the events of movies like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs Kong, but Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has confirmed one Monsterverse character that will be appearing, John Goodman's William "Bill" Randa as seen in 2017's Kong: Skull Island. 

The opening sequence of the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters teaser trailer shows an old recording being played, one with Goodman's voice as the narration. In the video, he says: "I don't know if this will get to you, I hope so. I can't go back in time and fix all the mistakes I made, but maybe I can leave something for the future....a legacy." We also see Anna Sawai open a locker and hold up a bag with the Monarch logo and "Randa W. J." initialed on the side. Footage is also shown of Goodman's character running through the jungle. Since this would seemingly be set well before the events of Kong: Skull Island, which was in the 1970s, it's likely he's in some other monster-infested location.

As the trailer for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters continues, we see some footage of Godzilla approaching a beach clearly in the 1950s. It was previously confirmed that the events of the Monsterverse TV series will be split across two distinct points in time, taking place in the 1950s and half a century later. Father-son duo Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell will be the primary anchor for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters as they play the same character, the former in the present time and the later in the past. Based on the rest of the trailer, which you can find above.

Kurt Russell's older version of Army officer Lee Shaw has a moment of narration to, noting: "The world is on fire, I decided to do something about it. The mission was to protect their world, and ours. It's what we wanted Monarch to be, instead of chasing monsters..." Could we possibly see that the character played by the Russells was involved with the beginnings of Monarch like Goodman's character? Might they have even known each other? Time will tell, and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will premiere globally on Friday, November 17 with two episodes on Apple TV+. 

Other confirmed cast members for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters include Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski. The official description for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters reads as follows: 

"Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco, 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 (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), 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."

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is co-developed and executive produced by Chris Black and Matt Fraction. Matt Shakman directs the first two episodes and serves as executive producer alongside Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures, Andy Goddard, Brad Van Arragon, and Andrew Colville. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd., the owner of the Godzilla