Monarch: G-Team - The Show The MonsterVerse Needs?
This piece was initially published at KaijuRamenMedia.com on November 12, 2022. Click here to read the original.
O’Shea Jackson Jr. has been working hard in the film industry since his breakout role in Straight Outta Compton, the biopic where he played his father, Ice Cube. Since then he’s appeared in a few shows and movies such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Godzilla: King of the Monsters among others. He loves playing parts in nerd-centric media and was very excited to get to play a role in the third entry in the MonsterVerse, the aforementioned Godzilla: King of Monsters. It was this film that got his creative juices flowing and he took it upon himself to develop a new show set in the MonsterVerse and he needs Kaiju fans to help him get it made.
For a number of years now, Toho has marked the anniversary of the 1954 Godzilla film, November 3rd, with a special event known as Godzilla Day. Toho often makes major announcements and lately has been showing short films to celebrate the legacy of Godzilla. Oftentimes, fans would partake in the celebration by sharing various fan art and projects. This year, fans were surprised when O’Shea Jackson Jr. shared that he had been working on a show set within the MonsterVerse called Monarch: G-Team. He revealed that he and Toho Kingdom’s Chris Mirjahangir have developed a series that would be set after Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Its purpose is to explore the status quo set up by the events of the films ending through the organization known as Monarch.
Introduced in 2014s Godzilla, Monarch has appeared in every entry in the MonsterVerse in some form or another. It has served as connective tissue for the films in a similar role that S.H.I.E.L.D. played in Phase 1 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Originally Monarch was portrayed as a small organization run by Dr. Serizawa, played by Ken Watanabe. He and Sally Hawkins' Dr. Vivienne Graham were investigating the hatching of a giant monster in the hopes that it would lead them to Godzilla. Supplementary material for the film, such as the Godzilla: Awakening prequel comic, went further into the origins of Monarch. The comic explains that it was created by Harry S. Truman in 1946 in order to hunt and study “massive unidentified terrestrial objects'' (MUTO). By the time Godzilla: King of the Monsters came around, the organization turned from one that seemed to be on its last legs to one that had underwater bases and specialized flying headquarters.
Even though Monarch has been featured in every movie, fans often get the nagging sensation that there’s still more that can be done with them. A sentiment that O’Shea Jackson Jr. seems to ascribe to as well. He played Jackson Barnes in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, one of many new characters introduced in the film. But, of the few returning cast members in Godzilla vs. Kong, he was not one of them and was maybe more than a little disappointed not to be asked back (but that’s just speculation). But he’s found a way to keep the character alive, or at the very least Monarch. Godzilla: King of the Monsters introduces many ideas and characters that could be explored in future installments, and since Godzilla vs. Kong abandoned them, Jackson Jr. has taken it into his own hands to keep them alive.
According to co-creator Chris Mirjahangir, the series is meant to be animated in an “anime style”, which sounds similar to the upcoming Kong: Skull Island series from Powerhouse Animation supposedly due out next year. It will follow the G-Team, introduced in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and would see them deal with various Titans around the world. Godzilla is meant to have a large role in the series, but the concept art shown on Twitter suggests that Toho favorites Gigan and Biollante are meant to feature in the show. When shown the Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex short film, Jackson Jr. said that he had bigger plans in store for Gigan, which is surely exciting to many. Gigan and Biollante have been on the wishlist of many Kaiju fans ever since the MonsterVerse began, but Jackson Jr. didn’t stop there.
If there’s one thing that Kaiju fans love, it’s when all monsters get a chance to shine. With that in mind, it was incredibly exciting when the second tease revealed that the stars of 1966’s The War of the Gargantuas, Sanda and Gaira, were envisioned as part of Monarch: G-Team. These two don’t often get a lot of love so bringing them to a major Hollywood project could give them the second life that kaiju fans have been hoping to see. Some eagle-eyed fans have noticed that the concept art also showcases the use of Masers, the premier weapon in many Godzilla movies. Maser’s had a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, establishing that they do exist in the universe, so this makes a certain amount of sense. “Chris Mirjahangir and myself wanted to create a world that pays homage and touches base with the things that made us all fall in love with the genre,” Jackson Jr. said in his tweet. This series looks to take inspiration from every era of kaiju film and the love they have for the genre is very apparent.
The reveal of Sanda and Gaira being a part of the series are perhaps more important than the reveal that Gigan or Biollante would be. Seeing the two latter monsters reimagined in the MonsterVerse would be very cool, but the former monsters suggest that there could be even more deep cuts waiting for kaiju fans. Toho’s library of monsters is expansive and the MonsterVerse has only used four of them, counting Godzilla. Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidora are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Toho’s kaiju library and the inclusion of the stars of War of the Gargantuas suggests that the creators of this show want to dive deep and not just pick out the popular ones. Though the desire to choose from only Toho’s library could be costly.
The Legendary MonsterVerse has had to fight for every Toho monster since the beginning. Just because Legendary and Warner Bros. have the rights to Godzilla, doesn’t mean they have the rights to use every monster created by Toho and each one comes with their own price tag. Toho monsters can get very expensive the more of them you include. This is most likely why the MonsterVerse tends to design their own monsters more often than not. While these new monsters are undoubtedly interesting, they lack the personality that makes monsters like Gigan, Biollante, or even Angurous so appealing. This could be because they haven’t had enough screen time, so perhaps Monarch: G-Team could also help flesh out monsters like Behemoth or Scylla. If this show wants to use more than just a few Toho monsters then it could be very expensive just with the licensing alone. Hopefully, that doesn’t scare off Legendary as the payoff could be unexpected.
There are already so many interesting ideas set up in the MonsterVerse that have gone nowhere as of yet. It is a franchise with tons of potential, just waiting to be explored. Perhaps Zhang Ziyi who plays both Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling in Godzilla: King of the Monsters could play a role and finally go deeper into her family's connection to Mothra. MonsterVerse fans have huge wishlists of Toho Kaiju they’d also love to see. With a show like this, the MonsterVerse wouldn’t need to cram the likes of King Ceasar or Titanosaurous into the background of a movie. They could feature prominently in a show built around exploring the habitats and personalities of monsters and where humans fit in this new world order.
2023 is looking to be a big year for the MonsterVerse. A new movie is due to release along with Godzilla’s first live-action show and a Netflix anime based on Skull Island. That’s not even counting the unrelated Godzilla movie coming from Japan. There are certainly more corners to explore in the MonsterVerse and fans are always worried that it will be taken away from them at any moment. But is there room for a third show? With the passion that O’Shea Jackson Jr. has for this project, that answer is probably a “yes”. Supposedly Monarch: G-Team could run for three seasons and with five years between Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong, it could be exactly the kind of show that fans have been begging Legendary to make since 2014.
As MonsterVerse and Kaiju fans eagerly await more teases, it’s clear that it is the fan's responsibility to loudly support this project. Jackson Jr. and Mirjahangir believe that this show could get made and the only thing standing in their way is that Legendary doesn’t believe there’s any demand for it. That is patently not true and they need to be shown just how much fans want this. The only way right now for fans to help is by sharing every piece of concept art they share. The possible characters and monsters that could show up are endless. Sure, there’s already a big line-up of MonsterVerse to come, but if Marvel can release 4 movies and 6 shows in one year, why can’t Godzilla?
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