‘Monarch’ Season 3 Taps New Writers – and New Titans – for Soft Reboot

There’s a change in direction coming to Apple and Legendary’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” as the two are in talks for a prospective third season that would see new writers taking the reins along with new Titans from Legendary’s Monsterverse. That’s right – Godzilla will be facing down his most potentially perilous foe yet: a soft reboot.What’s interesting is that the first “Monarch” spinoff, a still untitled series that focuses on the younger version of the Lee Shaw character, played by Wyatt Russell, is still likely moving forward. The new series, executive produced by Russell, is set in 1984, when Shaw went on a secret mission behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop the Soviets from unleashing a horrific new Titan big enough to destroy the U.S. and turn the tide of the Cold War. Millie Brady, Pilou Asbaek, Corey Stoll, Ralph Ineson, Nyasha Hatendi, Connie Nielsen and Stana Katic also star. The new show is showrun by Joby Harold, who is developing multiple new series set within the franchise’s evolving universe, featuring both new and fan-favorite Titans for Apple TV, alongside producing partner Tory Tunnell via their Safehouse Pictures banner. It’s easy to see why they’ve reached an impasse on “Monarch,” as the show was hugely complicated, featuring international production and extensive visual effects, along with a starry cast that was led by Kurt Russell but also Anna Sawai, who rose to stardom thanks to “Shōgun” and will be seen in Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles films as Yoko Ono. Season 1 of the show was big and Season 2 was even bigger. Along with the scale of the action, the mythology was getting more cumbersome as the series was taking place in between movies in the mainline Monsterverse series, quickly approaching 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” which featured a bevy of classic monsters from the Toho library. (Toho is a producer on all Monstervese projects, including “Monarch.”) It’s unclear what form the reboot will take but it is likely that things will be scaled down. At the end of Season 2, the elder version of Shaw was seen in South America, tracking a new Titan that happens to be one of the franchise’s most iconic monsters – the dinosaur-like Rodan. Godzilla, the King of the Monsters, is currently enjoying a place of huge prominence. Next month GKIDS will release “Godzilla Minus Zero,” the follow-up to 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One.” And in March Legendary’s “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova” will be released by Warner Bros. This latest installment in the Monsterverse stars Kaitlyn Dever, Jack O’Connell, Matthew Modine and Sam Neill, with Dan Stevens reprising his role as Trapper from the rip-snorting “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.” “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” is executive produced by Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures. Season 2 was executive produced by Chris Black, Jen Roskind, Matt Shakman, Lawrence Trilling, and Andrew Colville. Black served as showrunner on season 2. Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita executive produce on behalf of Toho Co., Ltd. Toho licensed the rights for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” to Legendary as a natural byproduct of their long-term relationship with the film franchise. Apple TV has a multi-series deal with Legendary Entertainment, which includes multiple spinoff series based on the franchise. The complete first and second seasons of “Monarch” are streaming on Apple TV right now. Roar!