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Parents' Guide to

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

By Jenny Nixon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Monsters and mankind clash in semi-scary Godzilla series.

TV Apple TV+ Science Fiction 2023
Poster image for the Apple TV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The cast is pictured forefront with a green-hued image of Godzilla looming begind them.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • A woman pictured from the chest up, looking upward with an expression of stunned disbelief. Her hair is wet and clings to her face.
  • A scaly creature on four legs in the snow, fanged mouth agape, and a face surrounded by a dozen tentacles.
  • A man and woman crouch down in a dark space with a stone column behind them. Both of them hold flashlights.
  • A man wearing a 1950s naval uniform and holding a large camera stands next to a woman in a white collared shirt and dark trousers, with a backdrop of trees in the jungle.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Kathryn19
Kathryn19 Parent of 10-year-old
December 9, 2023
age 17+

Scenes of same sex intimacy

Started off as a good show. Disappointing that they felt the need to put in scenes of women intimately kissing, along with another scene of another 2 women in a bed scene.
Sarah B.
Sarah B. Adult
December 10, 2023
age 13+

Enjoying this show so far

Really cool to see Kurt Russell acting with his son. Could go without the sex scenes between two female characters. It didn’t add to the storyline and Apple seems to add it just for the sake of checking a box on every show. Impressed with both season 1 and 2 so far.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS is the sixth installment in the "MonsterVerse" -- the American reinterpretation of the legendary Japanese kaiju character Godzilla created and owned by Toho Ltd., Co., who first appeared on film in 1954. The ten-episode series centers on Cate Randa (Anna Sawai, Pachinko), a PTSD-afflicted survivor of the San Francisco-based monster attack depicted in the MonsterVerse's popular 2014 film Godzilla. As she arrives in Japan to settle her presumed-dead father's affairs, Cate uncovers a series of family secrets that reveal a shocking and unexpected picture of who her work-obsessed father was, and what he was really up to during the long hours spent away from home. The episodes switch back and forth between Cate's adventures in the present day and those of her scientist/cryptozoologist grandparents in the 1950s. We learn how Monarch, the mysterious government organization tasked with monitoring "Titans" like Godzilla, was formed and how tightly its history is intertwined with that of Cate's family.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Though the show doesn't have the budget for wall-to-wall battles, it's full of likable characters and nicely-executed special effects. Even if you haven't seen previous installments like Godzilla vs. Kong or Kong: Skull Island, there's still plenty to dig about Monarch: Legacy of Monsters -- not the least of which is the nostalgia-tickling casting of Kurt Russell as Lee Shaw, a former military man and close friend of Cate's grandparents. Shaw helps Cate fill in the backstory of her family in the modern day, while Russell's real-life son Wyatt Russell plays 1950s-era Shaw in the flashback scenes -- a bit of stunt casting that really, really works. The monster scenes are appropriately creepy, gross, and thrilling yet not too intense for most kids; the violence is on par with a typical Marvel movie. Overall this is an enjoyable series that should prove compelling for Godzilla fans and newbies alike.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how these giant monsters came to be such a threat and what role, if any, mankind has played in this development. What do you think is motivating their behavior in the series? Does anything in real life behave like them?

  • Discuss Cate's father and his complicated family life. Why do you think he kept the secrets he did from his wife and children? Was he more concerned with protecting them or with protecting humanity as a whole? Do you agree with his actions?

TV Details

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