The success of 2014’s Godzilla sparked an ambitious expansion of Legendary’s MonsterVerse. This growth quickly moved beyond its central Titan to reintroduce a host of iconic kaiju from Toho’s extensive library. Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a pivotal moment, bringing legendary creatures like Mothra and Rodan back to the big screen for a new generation. The film also populated its runtime with a variety of other Titans, establishing that the world was teeming with giant monsters who had long been hidden. Now, the Apple TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters continues this expansion. By focusing on the human organization dedicated to studying these creatures, the show has the unique opportunity to delve deeper into the lore and give screen time to lesser-known kaiju, weaving them into the fabric of the MonsterVerse’s history.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The official synopsis for the second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters hints at a significant new addition to the franchise’s bestiary. It describes a storyline involving a “mysterious village where a mythical Titan rises from the sea.” This clue is reinforced by the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 trailer, which features a shot of massive tentacles pulling a ship beneath the waves. Taken together, these two pieces of information point directly toward the revival of a specific Toho kaiju, one that has been absent from the screen for 63 years.
Is Season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Using the Giant Octopus?
The Giant Octopus, known to fans as Oodako, first appeared in the 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla. In its debut, the creature attacks Faro Island, driven by a desire for the special berry juice the natives use in their rituals. The attack serves as an early demonstration of the dangers on the island before King Kong himself appears to handily defeat the cephalopod. The monster’s final appearance came four years later in 1966’s The War of the Gargantuas, where it once again appears at the beginning of the film to attack a fishing trawler, only to be quickly dispatched by the sea-dwelling gargantua, Gaira. In both instances, the Giant Octopus functions more as an environmental threat than a primary antagonist, a dangerous piece of megafauna that establishes the peril of its surroundings before a more significant monster takes the spotlight.
A key reason for the Giant Octopus’s relative obscurity is that it is far less fantastical than many of its Toho counterparts. Unlike the atomic-breathing Godzilla or the three-headed alien dragon King Ghidorah, Oodako is simply a scaled-up version of a real animal. This grounded nature likely made it less popular over the decades, as it lacked the imaginative traits of other major kaiju. However, this very quality makes it a perfect fit for the more scientifically-grounded world of the MonsterVerse. The franchise has already established a precedent for giant cephalopods with the Mire Squid, which battled Kong in Kong: Skull Island. Furthermore, the legend of the Kraken is a globally recognized myth of a giant tentacled sea monster, making the introduction of a similar Titan in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters a believable addition.
The second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is scheduled to premiere on Apple TV on February 27, 2026.
Do you believe the Giant Octopus is the right choice for a new Titan, or is there another forgotten monster you would rather see make its MonsterVerse debut? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Focus Features. -
Courtesy of Comedy Central
