Can the Monsterverse be subtle? Two years ago, with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, creators Chris Black and Matt Fraction proved the answer to that question was a surprising yes. Through 10 episodes from late 2023 to 2024, Monarch Season 1 told an intergenerational tale that spanned the 1950s to 2015, interestingly insulated from much of the canon of the other Monsterverse movies. As Black told Inverse in 2023: “There are big gaps in that cinematic timeline...there's a lot that happens in that time span that is not stated in the movies, so it gives us a pretty wide field to play in.”
And play they have! Monarch Season 1 not only reintroduced Godzilla, but also recontextualized the nature and history of the monster-hunting agency, the titular Monarch. And, along the way, it revealed that the “Hollow Earth” from the films has some timey-wimey qualities.
