Thanks to Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters, the MonsterVerse is on track to show the rest of the Godzilla-MUTO fight from the 2014 movie. During the second half of the Gareth Edwards-directed film that launched the MonsterVerse, Godzilla engaged in some grueling battles with the two MUTOs in San Francisco before finally emerging triumphant. However, only a portion of this conflict actually occurred onscreen.
It’s worth noting that most of what was seen from the fighting in San Francisco comes from the end of the battle. The 2014 film showed Godzilla’s loss, followed by a full look at his one-on-one showdown with the flying MUTO, where he famously brought out his iconic atomic breath attack for the first time. After Godzilla took a brief rest, the movie caught up with him again, right as he was about to execute the now-famous “Kiss of Death” that killed the female MUTO. Much of what went on before all of this, though, was largely left up to the viewer’s imagination.
The MonsterVerse’s Monarch TV Show Is Revisiting Godzilla’s Fight With The MUTOs
Nine years later, the MonsterVerse looks to be revisiting this key moment in its history. Photos from Apple TV+’s Godzilla TV series, Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters, show what appears to be the same school bus from the San Francisco sequence, the military, and a new character played by Anna Sawai looking up (seemingly at a monster), By all indications, Monarch will include scenes of Godzilla’s arrival in San Francisco from different perspectives, presumably those of the show’s main characters. If that’s the case, it stands to reason the series will be able to show parts of the fight that weren’t in the 2014 film.
Considering that the film cut away to a different scene right as Godzilla and one of the MUTOs collided, there’s a great deal of action Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters can show without simply repeating what’s already been seen. For instance, it’s known that their initial clash somehow culminated in Godzilla and the MUTO being separated, as opposed to one killing the other. Exactly what happened here can be depicted in full in the series, viewed from the eyes of Cate and whatever other characters are on hand.
In a sense, heading in this direction will enable the MonsterVerse to finally complete the fight between Godzilla and the two MUTOs. Since the ending of it – Godzilla blasting atomic breath down the female MUTO’s throat – happened in an evacuated part of the city, it may not be shown in the series – nor will it need to be since it was already properly explored. But, the show can very well fill in the gaps, with the middle of it being shown in the series itself and the beginning and end of the fight being found in the 2014 movie.
Why Godzilla 2014 Didn’t Show The Entire MUTO Fight
As for why Godzilla didn’t feature the entire fight in the first place, that can likely be chalked up to the need for buildup. While it may have been frustrating to watch Godzilla charge at the MUTO only for a cutaway to hide several minutes of monster fighting, this tactic allowed the film to generate excitement and tension for its finale. Plus, not showing all of it may have been beneficial to the production from a budgetary standpoint. Although hiding so much of the action was certainly a risky move, the across-the-board, positive reception to Godzilla goes to show that it paid off in the end.
Why The MonsterVerse Is Heading Back To 2014 San Francisco
Since the MonsterVerse moved past the events of the 2014 film years ago, the decision to put the focus back on Godzilla’s encounter with the MUTOs after nine years is certainly an interesting choice. That said, it makes sense when keeping in mind the story planned for the series. Rather than highlight what’s happening now in the MonsterVerse (after Godzilla vs. Kong), the new show has elected to take a deeper look at what happened after Godzilla reared his head for the first time since the U.S. military tried to kill him in 1954.
Judging by the synopsis, the point of all this is to meaningfully explore the aftermath of the discovery that monsters really do exist. Since Godzilla: King of the Monsters jumped forward by five years, the immediate response to the emergence of the Titan was glossed over, thus leaving room for a show like Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters to take another look at this period, especially since it deserves to be treated as an important moment in human history. And through this new show, the MonsterVerse has ample opportunity to explore how people outside Godzilla’s movies were impacted by what happened that day.
