cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/36900956
Reading through speculation about what the **Monsterverse’s new kaiju Titan X aka Le Gran Dios de la Mar may be (such as the article linked above), it sounds increasingly as though 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”, is a constant within the franchise.
In addition to atomic/nuclear radiation, films such as Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971), with its smog monster, and the more recent Monsterverse film 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.
Wait, Godzilla is about the environment?
🌎🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀Yup — it’s not just about enormous monsters fighting.
That said, characters, emotions and anything that isn’t action scenes is often underrepresented in American takes on the franchise.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters from Legendary Television on AppleTV is intended to be an entryway to the franchise. You can start with season one without any previous knowledge.
Likewise, the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One from Toho, a 70th anniversary return to the original 1954 scenario, is another great entry point.
