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While the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DCU tend to be the biggest topics of conversation among shared universes, Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment have had a pretty successful run with their MonsterVerse. The franchise updates two iconic movie monsters, Godzilla and King Kong, and has created its own mythology recurring characters, as well as long-form plot developments. Different directors have come in and put their stamp on these characters, and audiences have embraced this franchise.

The franchise is still going strong. 2024 will see the release of the fifth film in the franchise, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. The Monsterverse franchise has expanded into television with a Netflix animated series titled Skull Island and a live-action Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series on Apple TV+. Due to the nature of various Godzilla films out there, including the Academy Award-winning Godzilla Minus One that fans are waiting to be able to watch at home, it can be confusing to keep track of which Godzilla and King Kong movies are part of the MonsterVerse franchise.

For anybody looking to get in on the franchise in preparation for the upcoming release of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire or looking just for a good weekend binge of monster mashups, here is how to watch the MonsterVerse in chronological order or by release order if you prefer.

Update March 25, 2024: This article has been updated following the conclusion of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and ahead of the upcoming release of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire.

MonsterVerse in Order of Release

Title

Release Date

Godzilla

May 16, 2014

Kong: Skull Island

March 17, 2017

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

May 31, 2019

Godzilla vs. Kong

March 31, 2021

Skull Island

June 22, 2023

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

November 17, 2023

Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

March 29, 2024

MonsterVerse in Chronological Order

  • Kong: Skull Island
  • Skull Island
  • Godzilla
  • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters
  • Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

kong: skull island
Kong: Skull Island
PG-13
Adventure
Action
Fantasy
Horror
Thriller
Where to Watch

*Availability in US

  • stream
  • rent
  • buy
Release Date
March 8, 2017
Runtime
118
Tagline
All hail the king

Chronologically, the first film in the franchise is the second film released, Kong: Skull Island. The film shows a team working for an organization titled Monarch, which specializes in studying giant creatures and developing a Hollow Earth theory. Kong: Skull Island takes place in 1973 (with a prologue set in 1943) and lays a lot of groundwork for the MonsterVerse franchise, establishing Monarch as an organization and how they will come to know about Kong and Godzilla.

The earlier time period also allows the film to explain how Kong can be big enough to fight Godzilla, as this is a relatively smaller version of the character that is still growing. The film's end credit sequence fully connects the Kong and Godzilla franchise, showing cave paintings of Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah, as well as a drawing of Godzilla and one of Kong's ancestors.

The biggest character introduced in this film is Bill Randa (John Goodman), the head of Monarch. Goodman will cameo in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters in a scene that takes place during the events of this film, while a younger version of the character (Anders Holms) will be a big part of that series and lay the foundation for the organization and the franchise. Stream Kong: Skull Island on Max.

Skull Island (2023)

Skull Island
King Kong Skull Island
TV-14
Animation
Action
Adventure
Release Date
June 22, 2023
Cast
Benjamin Bratt , Darren Barnet , Betty Gilpin , Mae Whitman , Nicolas Cantu
Seasons
1

The first animated offering in the MonsterVerse, Skull Island, is an 8-part series streaming on Netflix. The series is set in the early 1990s, which means it takes place roughly 20 years after the events of Kong: Skull Island and several years before the canon comic book series Skull Island: Birth of Kong, set in 1995. While both of those entries include excursions planned by Monarch, the events of Skull Island center around an accidental shipwreck of a crew searching for answers to a long-standing mystery by the team's patriarch.

The series fills in a hole in the MonsterVerse timeline that allows the creative team behind the series to play with the mythology of the wider universe without disrupting the main events of the storyline playing out on the big screen. Yet due to the nature of being a brief animated series for Netflix, a lot of the plot elements in the series have not been brought up or mentioned in other MonsterVerse films or television series. Stream Skull Island on Netflix

Godzilla (2014)

Godzilla
Godzilla
PG-13
Release Date
May 14, 2014
Director
Gareth Edwards
Runtime
123
Main Genre
Action
Tagline
A king's arrival is never silent.

The first film released was Godzilla, and the existence of giant monsters is unknown to the general public in the film. The film sees Godzilla emerge to fight off ancient creatures identified only as MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) that are wreaking havoc and threatening the planet. The main character Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor Johnson) does not return in future installments, but characters like Dr. Ishirō Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), and Admiral William Stenz (David Strathairn) all will return in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

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Godzilla and the MUTO's giant battle in San Francisco in 2014 is very much the turning point for the franchise as major character development and plot points in both Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Godzilla: King of the Monsters are set up here. This is the moment when humans learn about the existence of these massive creatures (who will later be called titans), and it will also affect many characters moving forward. Former Monarch husband and wife duo Dr. Mark and Emma Russell lose their son in the battle of San Francisco, putting them down separate paths that lead to the event of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, while the immediate aftermath of Godzilla's emergence is explored in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Stream Godzilla on Max

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters poster
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Action
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Release Date
November 17, 2023
Cast
Christopher Heyerdahl , Mari Yamamoto , Qyoko Kudo , Kurt Russell , Wyatt Russell
Seasons
1

Read Our Review

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters strays away from the usual carnage of large Kaiju warfare to tell a more compelling, grounded story where the human factor plays a more significant role in shaping a story that chronicles how humanity has faced the menacing presence of monsters in our world and the forces that work behind the scenes to keep the people safe.

The father and son duo of Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell, alongside Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett, Anna Sawai, Elisa Lasowski, and Ren Watabe, tell a story that spans multiple decades where we learn the dealings of Monarch, their secrets, and the numerous covert operations taking place across the planet to keep the monsters in check. It is set in the immediate aftermath of Godzilla and will lead into the 2019 sequel, filling in the gaps between the five years that take place in the universe.

Cate Randa (Sawai) is the granddaughter of Bill Randa from Kong: Skull Island, who adopted her father, Hirisho Randa. Cate is also on the bridge that Godzilla destroys in the 2014 film, resulting in the death of many of her students. Apex Cybernetics, the company in Godzilla vs. Kong that creates Mechagodzilla, origins are revealed in this series, as well as how the technology massively leaps forward from the grounded 2014 Godzilla to the futuristic hover vehicles in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Monarch also became a public organization that the world knew about by the time of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is explained here, and when the MUTO terminology changed to Titans. The season's final episode takes place in 2017, just two years before the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and hints at how much the world is aware of the existence of Skull Island. Critics have highly praised the series, so it is looking to be another strong entry in what has become one of the best-shared universes of all time. Stream Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+

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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Godzilla 2
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
PG-13
Thriller
Action
Horror
Sci-Fi
Where to Watch

*Availability in US

  • stream
  • rent
  • buy
Release Date
May 29, 2019
Runtime
132
Tagline
God help us all.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters blows the door open on the franchise with more monsters and expands the mythology of the world. The monsters are now theorized to be the legendary titans of myths, the world has now learned more about their existence, and Monarch has become a more public organization. The film introduces legendary Godzilla mainstays like King Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra to the franchise. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters certainly explains a lot of the in-universe changes in the relatable, grounded story of Godzilla to a tone and style closer to the beloved Toho Godzilla films.

The film's villain, Ghidorah, ends up having major repercussions for the series as the storms he generated end up causing the storm surrounding Skull Island to increase and submerge much of it underwater, and one of his decapitated heads eventually becomes the basis for Mechagodzilla. The mid-credit scene of The film also introduces Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) and Madison Russell (Millie Bobbie Brown), two characters that will return in Godzilla vs. Kong. Joe Morton appears as Dr. Houston Brooks, a character from Kong: Skull Island that was originally played by Corey Hawkins.

By the end of the movie, Godzilla has defeated King Ghidorah and is now the new king of the monsters, with every other titan bowing before him...except for one. The movie's end credit scene shows how the world is adjusting to a new status quo, and one headline emphasizes various titans converging on Skull Island, setting up the title match of the franchise. Stream Godzilla: King of the Monsters on Max

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Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Godzilla Vs King Kong
Godzilla Vs King Kong
PG-13

The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against one another - the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong - with humanity caught in the balance.

Release Date
March 31, 2021
Director
Adam Wingard
Runtime
1hr 53min
Main Genre
Sci-Fi
Writers
Eric Pearson , Max Borenstein , Terry Rossio , Michael Dougherty , Zach Shields
Tagline
One Will Fall

The event film that everyone was waiting for was Godzilla vs. Kong. Set five years after the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2024 (and ten years since Godzilla's battle in San Francisco), Kong is being monitored by Monarch in a dome surrounding what remains of Skull Island, as most of the island has been consumed by the storm surrounding it.

The humans plan to use Kong to lead them to the Hollow Earth to discover a power source, as Godzilla has started attacking humans for initially unknown reasons. Apex Cybernetics CEO Walter Simmons is using Ghidorah's severed head to create Mechagodzilla to combat and destroy the Titans. This puts Godzilla and Kong on a collision course towards one another, which will eventually result in these two legendary foes putting aside their differences to fight a greater threat.

The film ends with Godzilla going off into the sea and Kong finding a new home in the Hollow Earth, ruling over it. Godzilla vs. Kong was heavily re-edited and was meant to serve as a possible ending for the franchise if need be due to the poor box office performance of the previous Godzilla movie and the rights deal with Toho set to expire. The movie ended up becoming a box office hit and was more impressive due to being released during the COVID-19 pandemic in the early stages of the vaccine rollout. The movie's success would lead to Legendary and Toho making a new deal and lead to the upcoming sequel, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. Stream Godzilla vs. Kong on Max

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Action
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Release Date
March 29, 2024
Director
Adam Wingard
Cast
Brian Tyree Henry , Rebecca Hall , Dan Stevens , Rachel House , Alex Ferns
Tagline
Bow to your new king.

Three years since the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is set for release in 2024 (the same year Godzilla vs. Kong takes place) and will mark the ten-year anniversary of when Godzilla was released and kicked off the MonsterVerse franchise. In the film, Godzilla and Kong will team up to face a mutual enemy who threatens to destroy the entire planet.

Adam Wingard (You're Next, The Guest) will be the first director to helm two entries in the MonsterVerse franchise, as he previously directed Godzilla vs. Kong. Kaylee Hottle, Rebecca Hall, and Brain Tyree Henry will reprise their roles from Godzilla vs. Kong. They will be joined by franchise newcomers Dan Stevens (Legion), Fala Chan (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Alex Ferns (Chernobyl), and Rachael House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople).

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will hit theaters on March 29, 2024. If you want a closer look at what Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has to offer, you can check out the trailer below.

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