'Monsterverse' timeline explained as 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' gets explosive Season 2 trailer
The newly released trailer for Apple TV+'s 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' Season 2 hints at an epic monster showdown. Set to premiere on Friday, February 27, the much-anticipated season will reunite heroes and villains on Kong's Skull Island and introduce a mysterious village where a mythical Titan rises from the sea. However, eager fans are still left with a burning question of when exactly 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' takes place in Legendary's MonsterVerse, making it the perfect time to break down the MonsterVerse timeline.
Monarch (1950s-1960s)
Notably, 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' concludes its Season 1 as an interquel bridging the MonsterVerse films 'Kong: Skull Island', 'Godzilla', 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters', and 'Godzilla vs Kong', focusing mainly on two periods, that is, the 1950s and 2015, after the events of Godzilla, as per Comicbook. Notably, the series revealed a bridge between Earth and Hollow Earth, where time dilation makes hours in the monster world equal years on Earth, adding new timeline entries that affect how the series connects to events in the MonsterVerse films.
For context, 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' flashbacks trace Monarch's formation in the 1950s, as Bill Randa (Anders Holm), Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto), and Col. Leland Shaw (Wyatt Russell) meet each other. 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' spans from 1952 to 1962, following key events: the first encounter with Godzilla in 1954, Monarch's fight against decommissioning and the development of the Hollow Earth theory in 1955, Keiko Miura's (Mari Yamamoto) disappearance into a Hollow Earth portal in 1959, and Lee Shaw's (Kurt Russell) 1962 expedition through the portal, which displaces him into the 1980s due to time dilation.
Monarch and Kong: Skull Island (1973)
In 1973, believing Keiko and Lee dead, an older Bill led an ill-fated expedition to Skull Island, where he was killed by a Skullcrawler. Before dying, he threw his Monarch research into the ocean; it was later recovered and returned to the organization, and his son Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira) helped transform Monarch into a global, multi-dimensional research and peacekeeping operation.
Monarch (1982)
After his 1962 expedition into Hollow Earth, Lee unexpectedly reemerges in 1982, having been displaced in time. Between 1982 and the 2014 Godzilla 'G-Day' emergence event, Lee was kept under constant surveillance and medical care at a Monarch facility, sedated on a strict regimen of medications to maintain his condition. When the catastrophic G-Day occurs, the sudden emergence of Titans and MUTOs stirs Lee from his long stupor, reigniting his determination and sending him back into action on his mission to confront the growing Titan threat.
Godzilla (2014)
In the 2014 movie 'Godzilla', the Godzilla vs MUTO battles signal the MonsterVerse's 'G-Day', when Titans suddenly emerge and wreak havoc, proving Monarch's theories true. Lee, the last surviving original Monarch founder, witnesses both the validation and the horror of the event.
Monarch (2015)
In 2015, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) investigates her presumed-dead father Hiroshi, uncovering a half-brother, Kentaro (Ren Watabe), his hacker partner, May (Kiersey Clemons), and hidden Monarch secrets. The storyline culminates at the Kazakhstan power plant, where another disaster propels Cate, May, and Lee into the bridge realm between Earth and Hollow Earth. Between 2015 and 2017, Kentaro and Hiroshi worked on mapping Hollow Earth portal points and predicting new emergences.
Monarch (2017)
In 2017, Cate, May, and Keiko escape the bridge between Earth and Hollow Earth, returning to find Skull Island now hosting an Apex Cybernetics facility. Hiroshi's portal mapping brings them home, setting up Season 2 to explore how Monarch establishes Outpost 33, develops a bond with Kong, and responds to Apex's creation of Mechagodzilla.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
'Godzilla: King of the Monsters', set five years after G-Day, depicts a global Titan emergence triggered by King Ghidorah's discovery and Dr. Emma Russell's (Vera Farmiga) actions. 'Monarch' Season 2 could explore events on Skull Island and Outpost 33 during this period, explaining why Titans congregated there.
