The Only 10 Actors Who Appeared in More Than One MonsterVerse Release

Now that we’re in the midst of the second season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, we’re officially eight entries deep into what may be the best cinematic universe today: the MonsterVerse. It truly is the little (but extremely big) engine that could, considering not even its first chapter, Godzilla, went over like gangbusters at the box office. It’s a cinematic universe that delivers what its fanbase wants, which is slam-bang kaiju fights. However, this often makes the human characters wholly secondary, which is a necessary evil with this type of thing. Even still, some humans do make their presences known in these movies and series, and they often get two movies (or a movie and a show) to do so.

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However, that’s not the standard. This isn’t the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where a character keeps appearing for a decade straight. Instead, here, characters typically get at most a pair of entries, then they’re gone. What follows are the actors who were not relegated to a one-off appearance.

5) John Goodman in Kong: Skull Island & Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

Usually, when the MonsterVerse kills a character off, they’re gone for good. This isn’t Star Wars or Marvel where some mystical force or time travel hooey can be employed to bring back a fan favorite. And, to an extent, the same applies to Bill Randa.

Yet, it’s still the one case where we’ve continued to see a character even after they’ve died. On one hand, the premiere episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters showed John Goodman’s version of Randa for a brief cameo. This was, of course, before he was gobbled up by Skullcrawler. Then there’s the fact that Monarch takes place in several time periods, so we also see a younger version of Randa played by Workaholics‘ Anders Holm. But, to the point, we did still see Goodman in two separate MonsterVerse projects.

4) Ken Watanabe, David Strathairn & Sally Hawkins in Godzilla & Godzilla: King of the Monsters

After Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla, fans of the franchise were terrified that Hollywood would repeat itself with the 2014 version. Those worries went away as soon as it was revealed that Ken Watanabe’s character was named Serizawa, the same name of the scientist who sacrificed himself at the tail end of Gojira.

The MonsterVerse’s respect for kaiju films of the past was solidified when its version of Serizawa went out the same way in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though, this time, it was to save Godzilla, not kill him. Also appearing in both Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters was Davi Strathairn’s Admiral William Stenz and Sally Hawkins’ Vivienne Graham. Sadly, while neither character was particularly well-utilized in the first film, they were even more inconsequential in the sequel. Stenz pops up for a pair of dialogue scenes and Graham is killed by King Ghidorah so quickly you can barely tell it happened. Will Stenz pop up down the line? Never say never.

3) Millie Bobby Brown & Kyle Chandler in Godzilla: King of the Monsters & Godzilla vs. Kong

Millie Bobby Brown’s Madison Russell was undoubtedly the protagonist of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and a more interesting one than Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Lieutenant Ford Brody. With Madison at least we got to see some internal conflict in terms of her reaction to seeing her mother become something of a villainous.

Madison was again a protagonist in Godzilla vs. Kong, but it was more like her leading the B-plot compared to Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews and Alexander Skarsgård’s Dr. Nathan Lind leading the A-plot. She basically exists to witness firsthand that Apex Cybernetics is building a kaiju killing machine. Outside of that she doesn’t affect the plot, but it was still fun seeing her again, and it’s another example of how the MonsterVerse at least attempts to have some connective tissue. And, at the end of the day, she has a much bigger presence than Kyle Chandler’s Dr. Mark Russell, who already didn’t do a whole lot in Godzilla: King of the Monsters then did absolutely nothing in Godzilla vs. Kong besides pop up and worry about his daughter twice.

2) Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, & Kaylee Hottle in Godzilla vs. Kong & Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Brian Tyree Henry is a top-tier talent who elevates every project of which he’s a part. He always understands the assignment. In the case of the MonsterVerse, though, the assignment is written to be a bit over-enthused and, honestly, a bit much. Nevertheless, his Bernie Hayes is a human character who actually manages to stand out in this franchise, and there’s something to be said for that.

That said, Hayes isn’t the best human character of the MonsterVerse. Instead, that’s easily Kaylee Hottle’s Jia, whose chemistry with her surrogate mother, Dr. Ilene Andrews, is genuinely touching and compelling. Sadley, they’re apparently not in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which is a little confusing since this duo clearly should have become a franchise mainstay (not to mention Jia’s connection to Kong who is, surprise, in the next Godzilla x Kong).

1) Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire & Godzilla x Kong: Supernova

Speaking of Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, not only is it swapping directors but most of its cast list, as well. The only character returning (As far as we know at this point) is Trapper, played with great enthusiasm by Dan Stevens in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Naturally, nothing is known about where this upcoming movie will take him, but we do know that he’ll be ably supported by MonsterVerse newcomers Sam Neill, Matthew Modine, Kaitlyn Dever, and Sinners stars Jack O’Connell and Delroy Lindo.

Which of these actors would you love to see again in the MonsterVerse? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!