Monarch: Monster Legacy Season 2

With all due respect to James Gunn’s ever-expanding DC Universe, the age of gods and monsters may very well be upon us…but primarily through Legendary and Warner Bros.’ kaiju-infested action. ongoing MonsterVerse franchise. The various blockbuster films have done much to reinvigorate mainstream interest in larger-than-life creatures, starting with Gareth Edwards’ “Godzilla” film over a decade ago and ending in one way or another with the completely gonzo Godzilla/Kong crossover extravaganzas in recent years. But even though the Titans dominated all the headlines and attention on the big screen, fans may have missed the (relatively) smaller-scale joys taking place on Apple TV streaming.

“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” could easily have been a cash grab attempt to beat the superhero franchises at their own game, but the first season provided a strong enough foundation and a compelling enough cast (highlighted by the intergenerational duo of Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt as older and younger versions of the same character, Lee Shaw) to stick with it and where this journey takes us. Set immediately after Godzilla’s attack on San Francisco in the 2014 film, the story centered on a new group of characters tasked with picking up the pieces in a world gradually overrun by these ancient apex predators. What followed were deadly clashes with titans like Godzilla and King Kong, a vast conspiracy spanning two separate timelines, and maybe a little time dilation thrown in for good measure.

With more episodes on the way, now is the perfect time to put all the breadcrumbs together and showcase what “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Season 2 has in store for us.

We could beat around the bush and drag this out for 200 words for laughs and giggles, or we could just give you the information you’re obviously here for. Because we’re not click-hungry sadists, we can confirm that “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Season 2 is officially scheduled to premiere on Apple TV on February 27, 2026. Like the first season, this next set of episodes is scheduled to stream on a weekly basis, for 10 full episodes until the finale on May 1. There, you can now get your calendars and start planning how to revolve your whole life around these two months of television… or, you know, just keep these details in mind like any normal person. No judgement, either way.

With a title like “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” even viewers who haven’t yet caught up with the first season probably know what to expect with a show like this. Expect plenty of monster-sized action with Titans, MUTOs, kaiju, or whatever you want to call these living, breathing gods and monsters of the deep. Throughout the first season, we discovered how the secret affair between half-siblings Cate (Shōgun star Anna Sawai) and Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe) had ripple effects far beyond their wildest imaginations. Determined to uncover the truth about their father Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira), the two soon battled against an unlikely team of May (Kiersey Clemons), Tim (Joe Tippett), and ultimately Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) to solve the much larger problem at play: the scheming machinations of the Titans’ surveillance organization, Monarch.

While all this was happening, a side arc followed characters from the 1950s, where Keiko (Mari Yamamoto), her husband Bill (Anders Holm, playing a younger version of the character portrayed by John Goodman in “Kong: Skull Island”), and Wyatt Russell’s Lee Shaw attempted to study the growing threat of the Titans and steer Monarch on the right path. As for season 2, here is the official synopsis:

Season 2 will pick up with the fate of Monarch – and the world – at stake. The dramatic saga reveals buried secrets that bring our heroes (and villains) together on Kong’s Skull Island, as well as a mysterious new village where a mythical Titan rises from the sea. Repercussions from the past ripple into the present, blurring the bonds between family, friends and enemies, all with the threat of a Titan event on the horizon.

Besides monsters and more monsters, you mean? (Look, we ask dumb rhetorical questions so we can provide dumb, not-so-rhetorical answers.) In all seriousness, a major question mark looming during Season 2 of “Monarch” was whether Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell would return for more time-travel shenanigans. At the end of the season 1 finale, our characters finally unite in a bizarre place inside the Hollow Earth, where concepts like “time” don’t quite mean the same thing. Keiko, long presumed dead after her disappearance in 1959, is still alive and (for the most part) in good health. Meanwhile, Shaw, the lovelorn elder, decides to sacrifice himself to save the others and allow them to escape to the surface, although he has now arrived in 2017.

Early returns from Season 2 indicate that we can expect a lot more where this comes from, as the returning cast is confirmed to include Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Joe Tippett, and Anders Holm. This at least suggests that there will be even more flashbacks throughout the second season, revealing more of the actions that characters like Bill Randa and a young Lee Shaw took to help create what Monarch would become. Otherwise, Season 2 is expected to continue the now-united cast’s journeys and reveal Shaw’s fate inside the Hollow Earth. Oh, and as for the monster side of things? Also expect a lot of Kong.

Unfortunately, Godzilla only has a starring role in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” – the multi-hyphenate has apparently decided to slack off in the directing, writing and producing departments. Showbiz is full of divas, isn’t it? But in the absence of the King of Monsters and his creative talents, a whole team of artists on a human scale was fortunately mobilized. After Matt Fraction (yes, that “WandaVision” and “Fantastic Four First Steps” director Matt Fraction, Matt Shakman, and Chris Black created the series in the first place, both Shakman and Black will return for season 2.

Shakman remains credited as executive producer, while Black serves as sole showrunner. Joining them will be Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell as executive producers, as well as Jen Roskind, Lawrence Trilling and Andrew Colville. Toho, owner of Godzilla and ever-protective company, will be represented by executive producers Hiro Matsuoka and Takemasa Arita. Elsewhere, on the production side, we only know that Lawrence Trilling will direct four episodes. As for the writing team, Black will likely continue to be credited on some episodes. For now, however, the only name confirmed is Colville, who will be credited as a writer for two episodes.

We could waste precious internet ink explaining that, yes, Apple TV released a new trailer for “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” and that’s why we’re writing this entire article in the first place… or you could look just above this sentence and click the link for yourself. (You can’t miss it, we promise.) Technically a teaser, the images live up to their name by only setting the tone for what viewers can expect when season 2 finally arrives. Instead of setting up any major storylines or narrative beats, the teaser focuses on a handful of visuals showcasing a world conquered by the Titans. (RIP to those poor surfers.) We see familiar faces like Keiko, Cate Randa, Tim, Kentaro, and Hiroshi watching an approaching monster and preparing to flee for their lives, as well as the briefest glimpse of the younger and older Lee Shaw in unfamiliar locations. Otherwise, the carefully selected images mostly show acts of kaiju violence against humans, masses fleeing imminent danger, and other tantalizing images to whet our appetite for more. At this level, consider this mission accomplished.