Glad the Fansets SFA combadges are coming out right away with both pins and magnets.

I still have vivid memories of trawling through the vendors at a 2019 local Comic Con, with our youngest and 45 k other attendees, looking for a Disco S2 combadge with magnet that didn’t actually exist.

There was really only one piece of merch that youngest wanted and naturally it was not to be found.

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.

Filion made unfortunate statements defending Joss Wheadon and arguing that he should be “uncanceled.’’

https://nypost.com/2022/06/23/nathan-fillion-wants-joss-whedon-uncanceled-so-they-can-work-together-again/

https://insidethemagic.net/2022/06/nathan-fillion-joss-whedon-controversy-ct1/

There are widespread reports of toxicity between Fillion and his Castle costar Stana Kari’s.

https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/20230131163149/nathan-fillion-feud-co-star-stana-katic-details-castle/

In 2019, a cast member of The Rookie quit citing sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rookie-star-quits-claims-she-faced-sexual-harassment-racial-discrimination-1229109/

I’ll be curious to know if episode 3 hits better for you.

It seems that there was a decision to respond to the ‘more action, more monsters’ complaints about season one from the movie franchise fans.

In a conversation that I saw elsewhere, there were points made regarding some fairly cringey elements in the original seasons that would not be well received by progressive audiences now. However, reworking these would invite backlash.

It’s a fine thing to thread around and it’s not obvious that the creators or Fillion are up for it. Fillion in particular has managed to alienate a lot of fans in the past decade.

This looks to be a nonstarter, especially after Hulu cancelled the Buffy reboot. Disney seems to be reigning in and focusing now that it has full control of Hulu.

If the IP was owned by WB or Paramount/CBS, it might have a chance, but this appears to be more of a case of Fillion and the some of the original creators trying to make a case to use the IP than any interest from Disney.

Actually, yes.

It has very high viewership globally. It was top ranked on Apple in the US and Asia, and much of Europe, although relatively less in CANZUK countries where the Togo Godzilla franchise is less well known.

However, as always, there are personal preferences.

It has the AppleTV resources so, the vfx and Titan action scenes are always excellent.

As a live-action television show, it leans more to mystery/skullduggery and character drama compared to a cinematic feature. Also, the first season is designed as an entry point for audiences and demographics with no previous experience with the franchise so it’s a slow build.

If you enjoyed Kong: Skull Island, you will likely enjoy this show.

All this means is that if all you want to see is kaiju fighting, this may not be for you.

And for me.

One always thinks there will be time. Regrettably, we have to learn the lesson through experience, some of us more than once.

I am going to admit right now that one of the reasons the I’m endeavouring to create a space here to discuss Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (M:LOM) and the Monsterverse, is because the show on AppleTV is getting a lot of coded and outright brigading from some of the same sort of fans in the US specifically.

Legendary Pictures and Television creators have done their best to bring to American, English language Godzilla productions the kind of emotional narratives that were always present in Japanese Godzilla productions no matter the restrictions of an action-focused cinematic feature. (I confess my own fan history with the franchise is with the older Japanese production eras and continuities.)

With 10 episode seasons, M:LOM has plenty of time for complex multigenerational character narratives and is delivering, filling in the gaps in bigger cinematic events. With women in major roles in front and behind the camera, LGBTQ and other representation, it’s intentionally working to draw in a broader demographic with a new entry point. It’s also succeeding in its ranking on AppleTV to the point a spinoff will start production this June.

Yet, it’s got a steady stream of posts along the lines of “I don’t really like those characters, do you?” and “Why are those young people making stupid choices?”

M:LOM’s clear themes of “hurt people hurt people” and consequences for actions are challenging but important, much as the Psychology Today piece says.

Taking on these themes and showing flawed three dimensional characters struggling through them in the context of multigenerational trauma makes for great genre television — providing the “they’re making my franchise woke” voices don’t swamp the show.

This is cool. It’s very small amounts.

The key issue is that they are making antimatter at CERN but the magnetic fields at CERN impede studying/analysing it.

Checking in with a nearby physicist, the amount is so small that even in the worse case it would be unlikely to set off a radiation detector.

In return for this sagesse, I was subjected to several witticisms on the detectable rate of decay in the bananas we have awaiting to be turned into banana bread.

Starfleet Academy appears to be having a Streisand Effect moment in broader media.

Who would have thought that brigading review sites with 1/10 comments and copypasta derision might finally reach the point that even Psychology Today would stop to write a ‘Wait! What?!!’ piece.

Apppreciated.

And we appreciate the new subscribers who’ve been able to find us through this and other discovery-focused communities.

Appreciated!

Really glad you’re enjoying the community whether lurking or engaging in the discussion.

I understand the feeling of not having many to talk to about the Godzilla franchise. I feel like an outlier as a fan of the Showa films. That’s the main reason I asked the admins to consider having a community here.

Our (late adolescent) kids were easy to get into Star Trek, and now each have their own other fandoms that they follow while still liking specific Star Trek shows, but I haven’t been able to get them into the Monsterverse at all.

My parter finally offered to watch season one of M:LOM with me recently and is actually enjoying it. Which of course makes me all the more enthusiastic to get others to give it a try.

Glad this is still pinned here.

I might finally have the time to get into this game (although our youngest is convinced I’ll never make it through the tutorial).

Thanks for joining the discussion here.

I agree. A lot of really great moments.

I wasn’t ready for that final scene with Bill and young Hiroshi, followed by his finding the letter.

I’m not sure though whether Bill will go to Skull Island and abandon Hiroshi out of despair at the betrayal or because he realizes that both the people, that loved him enough to give up their potential relationship, were lost to Axis Mundi. Perhaps, he couldn’t give up their mission knowing that.

There were a couple of unexpected parallels from episode three of the first season — which also had the word ‘secrets’ in the title.

I’ve just rewatched 1 x 03 with my partner this evening and was surprised to note:

• in both episodes May tells off a 3rd generation Randa for assuming they know what she wants and needs: first season Kentaro who tells her to go back to her life when, she believes he’s destroyed it; second season Cafe tells her everyone would be better off without her, but May says that doesn’t include her.

This era of Star Trek has quite a few A-listers actually.

Starfleet Academy is helmed by Oscar winner for best actress Holly Hunter (in The Piano), has two time nominee Paul Giamatti (one each nominations for best and best supporting actor) as well as Tig Notaro who is nominated this year for her documentary and has also been nominated twice for Emmys.

Akiva Goldsman, co-showrunner of Strange New Worlds has an Oscar for best screenwriter for an adaptation from another medium (for A Beautiful Mind).

We will never see 26 episode seasons again.

It currently takes more than one week to shoot a 42 minute episode.

Also, actors are not willing to lock into shows that leave them unavailable for movies or other television shows.

Star Trek and other streaming series are able to cast A-listers not just because they are willing to pay high pay rates and list them as executive producers but also because the A-listers are able to lock in multi season contracts with Star Trek while still being available to do other things.

But 10 episodes is not the maximum possible. Large ensembles like Starfleet Academy have enough main cast members that not everyone has to be on set every day.

As well, it’s possible that 4 or 6 episode limited series might be the perfect vehicle to bring back a Legacy character or explore something like the Department of Temporal Investigations. Under the old management those weren’t negotiable.

Why Paramount had such a bizarrely rigid policy after the ViacomCBS merger has never been adequately explained.

Glad to hear you liked it.

It’s so hard to keep track of shows when they’re only renewed after the season ends and the production timelines are so very long. That’s why it’s exciting to know that there’s a second show going into production and more in development.

Please do join in our weekly discussion threads on Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (aka M:LOM). Our community is just getting going and it’s grey to welcome other enthusiasts.