AlsoPaisleyCat 🇨🇦

Since the original ***Godzilla*** (1954) cinematic feature, the franchise has been inextricably entwined with commentary on humanity’s impact on and relationship with the natural environment.

There are clues that, in its second season, ***Monarch: Legacy of Monsters*** will be directly tackling the consequences of the climate crisis on the oceans.

The more we learn about the mysterious new Titan X aka Le Gran Dios de la Mar, the more it seems that her story is one about humanity’s impact on the oceans.

What do you think?

Please be welcome to join the conversation in our Lemmy community from here on Mastodon.

https://startrek.website/post/36900956

#climate #ClimateCrisis #Oceans #Monsterverse #Monarch #MonarchLegacyOfMonsters #Godzilla #Television #ScienceFiction

Could the ***Monsterverse*** be tackling a Climate Change theme in *Monarch: Legacy of Monsters* season two? - Star Trek Website

Reading through speculation about what the **Monsterverse’s new kaiju Titan X aka Le Gran Dios de la Mar may be, it sounds increasingly that she may be a new protective mother figure, impacted or possibly even responding to the effects of global heating on the oceans. If so, this season’s Titan threat may put Monarch: Legacy of Monsters in a unique position among current major science fiction streaming shows in directly taking on a Climate Change/Emergency scenario with no gloss of allegory. It is nonetheless absolutely in keeping with the long tradition of the broader franchise in critiquing the consequences of human actions on the planet. The 70+ year Godzilla franchise is unique in embedding the impact of humanity on the Earth’s environment from its outset. The narrative of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as later nuclear weapons testing and nuclear power plants, calling up kaiju, literally “strange creature” [http://www.everythingkaiju.com/p/what-is-kaiju.html], is a constant within the franchise. In addition to atomic/nuclear radiation, films such as Godzilla vs Hedorah [https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Hedorah] (1971), with its smog monster, and the more recent Monsterverse film Godzilla: King of the Monsters [https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla:_King_of_the_Monsters] (2019), which ends with Godzilla leading an ecological recovery, the franchise continues to underscore its deep theme that humanity shares the Earth and will bear the consequences for its actions.

Mar 16 at 2:50pmWeb
Show threadCommander Realo 1d ago
@AlsoPaisleyCat I’m not watching this series or the movies but isn’t the first Godzilla a direct bit of commentary on specifically the bombing of Hiroshima? The movie was nine years after that occurred.
Show threadAlsoPaisleyCat 🇨🇦1d ago

@jacobrealo

Yes it was!

However, some of the American productions in the franchise have been less conscious of this baked-in heritage despite featuring radiation-munching kaiju that battle one another.

There have been other ecological themes that have been tackled over the history of the franchise as I note in my post on Lemmy.

Having a sense of your genre interests, I would encourage you to give *Monarch: Legacy of Monsters* a try now that *Starfleet Academy* is done for the season. AppleTV and Legendary Television have ensured that the show is a solid entry point into the franchise.

It’s coming under some of the same criticisms as *Starfleet Academy* for including character-focused narratives and a younger adult generation who make mistakes while retaining older legacy characters, for LGBTQ representation, diverse racial representation, strong women characters etc.

Show threadCommander Realo 1d ago

@AlsoPaisleyCat I’ll start with the movies. I wasn’t aware till recently that the Monsterverse was a separate continuity from the Japanese movies or the previous King Kong.

I also think the ‘98 movie soured the franchise for Western audiences. But the animated sequel series was great!

Show threadAlsoPaisleyCat 🇨🇦1d ago

@jacobrealo There have been several continuities — both by Japanese and American creators — and some stand alone films. Fairly confusing for new cut the broader franchise.

*Godzilla Minus One* (2024) is excellent and was made by Toho for the 70th anniversary. *Gozilla Minus Zero*, a sequel, will be released this November. This new Toho continuity is distinct from the ***Monsterverse***.

*Godzilla* (1998) was so awful, and offside of the norms that Toho expected that they have been very cautious and restrictive of their licensing of the Toho creatures since that time. Legendary Entertainment (which also made *Dune*) has licenses from Toho for the use of most of the classic creature but these have covenants on how these kaiju can be presented or used in narratives.

You don’t really need the ***Monsterverse*** movies, but if you do wish to start that way, *Godzilla* (2014) and *Kong: Skull Island* (2017) (which takes place in 1973) are the only films that take place before *M:LOM* in this continuity.

In fact, since about half the show is taking place in the 1950s, and the rest from 2014 to 2017, it arguably takes place in both the earliest and the middle parts of the ***Monsterverse*** continuity.

There’s also a short *Skull Island* animated limited series that takes place somewhere between the movie and *M:LOM*.

#Monsterverse #MonarchLegacyOfMonsters #Godzilla #Kaiju