With the success of last year’s MonsterVerse epic Godzilla vs. Kong, more trips to the world of Titans and humanity’s struggle to get along were pretty much guaranteed. After Warner Bros. and Legendary announced that development on a new film was already in the works, the world seemed to think that was the most that was going to happen in this monstrous new world. Not so, as the MonsterVerse is now launching a live-action streaming series, and at a rather unlikely home.
Freshly announced by Apple, this untitled series is a new chapter in the world of the franchise spurred by 2014’s massively successful Godzilla reboot. Set to debut on Apple TV+, co-creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction are at the head of this new endeavor, with Black also acting as showrunner. Among the early details provided for the series is the following synopsis:
Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real, the series explores one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.
Reading between the lines of the first synopsis for this new MonsterVerse story, it sounds like this untitled Apple TV+ series takes place in a very specific era of time. With Monarch still operating as a “secret organization,” and the events of San Francisco directly invoked, that seems to lay down the foundation for this live-action TV project as a midquel that slots in between Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. That much seems evident when you revisit the ending to the 2019 sequel, which saw Monarch finally declassifying itself. Should that be the case, there already seems to be an explanation for why that story choice may have been selected.
The expansion of the MonsterVerse is currently pretty busy, both in the world of film and TV. Apple’s newly-announced entry into this overall canon isn’t the only streaming series that will have its roots in the Legendary/Warner Bros.-operated space, as seen with the development of the Netflix anime series Skull Island. As Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard was tapped to help develop the cinematic future for these characters and creatures, there’s free rein for both streaming series and motion picture alike to transform this world.
Godzilla has always been a massive kaiju to contend with throughout the pop culture landscape. His recent resurgence has only made revisiting the character, and his friends and foes, all the more rewarding when done right. The mind already spins with possibilities of what sort of angles the story to this mysterious streaming series could tackle; especially considering Mothra and her very family-driven legacy that’s been alluded to but cut from various films.
This untitled MonsterVerse series is currently in its earliest stages of development, so no production schedules or release dates have been specified. That shouldn’t stop Apple TV+ subscribers, or anyone looking for good TV throughout this year, from finding a new adventure to embark upon, courtesy of the 2022 TV premiere schedule. Don’t forget to brush up on your Titan history in the meantime, as at the time of this writing, every cinematic installment from Godzilla to Godzilla vs. Kong is currently available on HBO Max.
