Where ‘Monarch’ Season 2 Fits Into the Monsterverse Timeline

After two years, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is back. The Monsterverse spin-off series set between the events of Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters debuted on Apple TV in December 2023 and became a surprise critical hit. It earned the best reviews in the entire Monsterverse franchise with 87%. Since Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hit theaters in March 2024, MonsterVerse fans didn’t have to wait that long for more. Even better, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 has arrived after a two-year wait.

While The Monsterverse is one of the more successful shared universes in Hollywood, the projects aren’t released in chronological order. The events of the franchise timeline span over 70 years, from 1952 through 2026. Despite Monarch: Legacy of Monsters debuting between Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, the series itself is set years before. In fact, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is one of the earliest entries in the franchise timeline.

‘Monarch’ Season 2 Takes Place in Two Distinct Points in the MonsterVerse Timeline

Monarch‘s dual storyline spans two distinct time periods. The “present” day storyline takes place in 2017. It follows Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), her half-brother Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe), their father Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira), hacker May (Kiersey Clemons), and Bill’s time-displaced mother and Monarch co-founder Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto). The Monach: Legacy of Monster Season 2 premiere picks up in the immediate aftermath of Season 1, with Kong attacking a Monarch base that has been set up on Skull Island after Cate, May, and Keiko returned from the Hollow Earth. In terms of the MonsterVerse timeline, that places Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2:

• 44 years after the events of Kong: Skull Island (1973).
• Three years after the events of Godzilla (2014)
• Two years after Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1 (2015)
• Two years before the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

The second storyline details an early Monarch mission, centered on the days of Keiko, Bill Randa (Anders Holmes), and Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell in flashbacks and Kurt Russell in the present-day storyline). The flashback sequence of episode 1 is set in 1957. This would be about three years after Lee Shaw was officially assigned to work with Monarch following the atomic bomb testing on Godzilla referenced in the first MonsterVerse Godzilla film, and two years before Keiko was lost and dragged to the Hollow Earth in 1959.

Monarch Season 1’s flashbacks covered 1952, 1962, 1982, and 2012, and the same is expected for Season 2. Fans are curious if, since Monach: Legacy of Monsters is bringing Kong in, will the flashbacks detail the years following Kong: Skull Island? While it seems unlikely that Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston will reprise their roles as Mason Weaver and James Conrad, Monarch can mine plenty of unexplored story between the isolated events on Skull Island and the eventual world-changing events of Godzilla in 2014. One hope is that Monarch Season 2 will tie into the animated series Skull Island, which took place in 1993.

The MonsterVerse Titles in Chronological and Release Order

Here is a full chronological outline of the Monsterverse, excluding the flashbacks in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1 and 2, which span various points in the franchise timeline. For the most part, the flashbacks in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters take place in the 1950s and early 1960s, before the events of Kong: Skull Island.

• Kong Skull Island: 1973
• Skull Island: 1993
• Godzilla: 2014
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1 (Present Day storyline): 2015
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 (Present Day storyline): 2017
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters: 2019
• Godzilla vs. Kong: 2024
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: 2027
• Godzilla x Kong: Supernova: TBA

Here is every Monsterverse title in release order:

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is streaming on Apple TV.

Release Date

November 16, 2023

Network

Apple TV

Showrunner

Chris Black, Matt Fraction