Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is back for Season 2 on Apple TV+, continuing the side-quest story of the Monsterverse franchise. Season of Monarch was a game-changer, which revealed the secret history of the Monarch organization’s formation, and how those intrepid founders – Bill Randa, Keiko Miura, and Col. Lee Shaw – discovered and proved the existence of the Titan species, including Godzilla. The show also revealed a new realm that lies between the surface world and Hollow Earth, and time relativity that allowed figures thought lost in the past (Keiko) to return to the present as if barely any time had passed at all.
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Now, as Monarch Season 2 begins, the cast of the show is only getting bigger, as the TV lane of the Monsterverse extends into other staples of the franchise, like Apex Cybernetics and the Skull Island research facility that is home to “King” Kong. Below you’ll find a breakdown of the new and returning cast members of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and who they are playing.
The Monsters
16. Godzilla
Trailers for Monarch: Legacy of Monsters confirm that we’ll be getting another interquel story of Godzilla protecting Earth’s surface from malevolent Titans, before he is crowned “King of Monsters” by defeating Ghidorah. Even though he may not know it yet, Godzilla is also getting help from a future ally who has the same protective goal…
15. Kong
Kong made his presence felt in the Season 1 finale of Monarch: Legacy of Monters, as he was none too happy to have both Monarch and Apex Cybernetics establishing a base of operations on his territory, Skull Island. Kong seemed even less happy to have scientists ripping open portals to the strange junction realm between Earth and Hollow Earth, where all sorts of Titan nightmares could break through to the surface world. And, from Monarch Season 2 trailers, we know that at least one does…
14. Titan X
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 sees a new Titan threat emerge – “Titan X,” a sea-based creature whose history on Earth may go back centuries. Fans have theories that we could be getting a Monsterverse flip on another classic Toho Kaiju, but that remains to be seen. So far, we know that this creature will be keeping both Kong and Godzilla (independently) busy, as well as the team at Monarch – both in the past (1950s) and present (2017).
The Humans
13. Cate Randa (Anna Sawai)
Cate Randa, the focal point character in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, is she returns for Season 2, desperate to get back to the otherworldly realm where she left Col Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) behind, while rescuing her grandmother, Keiko (Mari Yamamoto). How far will that desperation push Cate? It remains to be seen. Actress Anna Sawai is coming to Saason 2 with much more fame and acclaim: she is the first Japanese actress to win a Primetime Emmy, thanks to her work playing Lady Mariko in FX’s record-breaking first season of Shogun.
12. Kieko Miura (Mari Yamamoto)
Keiko started out as a scientist working alongside Bill Rada and Lee Shaw in the 1950s, but when she fell into a rift to the Hollow Earth junction point in 1959, she was displaced in time until she was rescued and returned to the surface world in the year 2017. Now, Kieko has to deal with missing out on her life experiences and loved ones while she was lost; meanwhile, flashbacks to the 1950s will continue to deal with her complicated relationship with both Bill (her husband) and Lee as they continue the formative expeditions that discovered the Titans and made Monarch a global organization.
11. Bill Rada (Anders Holm)
The older Bill Rada (John Goodman) met his end in the original Skull Island expedition in the 1970s, but his work found its way back to Monarch and helped to inspire its modern era. Keiko will have to deal with her husband’s fate, now that she is back in the surface world. In the flashbacks, Anders Holm will continue playing Young Bill Rada as he travels with Keiko and Lee to investigate a possible Titan hiding in a remote part of the ocean.
10. Col. Lee Shaw (Wyatt & Kurt Russell)
Wyatt Russell and his dad Kurt split the role of Col. Lee Shaw in the 1950s and 2010s (respectively). Season 1 made the twist reveal that Kurt was also playing Shaw (after mainly following Wyatt in the past); the older Shaw lost 20 years down in the Hollow Earth junction, before remaining in Monarch’s custody for additional decades, until “G-Day” in Godzilla (2014) made him get active again. In the Season 1 finale, the elder Lee Shaw was lost in the junction realm again, rescuing his true love, Keiko. However, Kurt Russell being back for Season 2 suggests that Shaw will be far from dead, having survived this realm before. In the flashbacks, Wyatt will be playing Shaw in the 1950s, when he, Keiko, and Bill visit a remote maritime village that worships a sea god that may be more than just myth and legend. Young Shaw will also be getting his own spinoff project in the Monsterverse.
9 & 8. May Olowe-Hewitt (Kiersey Clemons) & Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe)
Season 1 saw May, aka Corah Mate (Kiersey Clemons), play things close to the vest – with good reason. It turned out that the master hacker was a computer genius who was developing code and algorithms for Apex Cybernetics (AET at the time), which would later be used to create the nightmare that is Mechagodzilla (seen in Godzilla vs. Kong). Kentaro (Rey Watabe) had more of a supporting role in Season 1, backing up his sister Cate on the search for their father. In Season 2, Ken and May are still on their “Will they? Won’t they?” vibe, even as May’s past with Apex catches up with her on Skull Island.
7. Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira)
Shogun‘s Takehiro Hira only had a recurring role in Season 1 of Monarch, playing Cate and Ken’s father/Bill, and Kieko’s son, Hiroshi. An accomplished Monarch scientist, Hiroshi has been studying the portals to Hollow Earth and learning to chart and predict the expeditions to and from the realm. He successfully brought his mother and daughter back – the question is, can he also save Lee Shaw? And how will the Randas deal with their deep family trauma, now that they are reunited?
6 & 5. Tim (Joe Tippett) & Natalia Verdugo (Mirelly Taylor)
Tim (Joe Tippett) is the put-upon Monarch officer who took on the field assignment of tracking down lost documents and keeping tabs on the Randa family. As season 2 begins, Tim and Monarch have made advances in the two years that passed when Cate, May, and co. were down in the Hollow Earth junction. That means that Monarch’s deputy director (and Tim’s boss) Natalia Verdugo (Mirelly Taylor) now has a much bigger ship to run (quite literally).
4. Brenda Holland (Dominique Tipper)
Brenda Holland (Dominque Tipper) had a mysterious role to play in Season 1 of Monarch, as someone connected to May’s past with Applied Experimental Technologies. By season’s end, it was revealed that in 2017, Brenda is a leading executive at Apex Cybernetics and runs the Skull Island research facility. Expect her to be a bigger (friend? Adversary?) in Season 2.
3. Isabel (Amber Midthunder)
Prey (2022) star Amber Midthunder is joining Monarch Season 2 as Isabel, who is only described as “a businesswoman.” No telling yet what this role could grow into as the season goes on, but Midthunder is a casting choice that lets us know it’s going to be something.
2. Curtiss Cook – Undisclosed
Actor Curtiss Cook (The Chi, Manifest, Mayans M.C.) has joined Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 in an undisclosed role.
1. Cliff Curtis – Undisclosed
Actor Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead, Avatar: Fire & Ash) has also joined Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 in an undisclosed role.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+. Discuss the premiere with us on the ComicBook Forum!
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