What to know about the MonsterVerse before Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

polygon.com:

Technically, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is the fifth film in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, which expanded into television in 2023 with Apple TV Plus’ Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. While that doesn’t make this franchise as sprawling as, say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s still a sizable enough body of work to fill a long weekend of watching for anyone who’s curious about what led up to The New Empire.

Should you bother with a deep dive into this series’ lore to prep for The New Empire, though,or just content yourself with a quick explainer? That mostly depends on what you want to know about this world and its characters.

Frankly, not really. You can go in cold if you like! As far as strict continuity goes, though, The Guest and Death Notedirector Adam Wingard picks up the action of this movie directly after the events of his 2021 series installment, Godzilla vs. Kong.

The scientific agency Monarch is still taking the lead in dealing with the kaiju-sized creatures called Titans. The New Empire brings back a few cast members, like Monarch scientist Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), her adopted (and psychic, apparently) daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), and conspiracy-theorist podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry). Plenty of other characters aren’t returning from Godzilla vs. Kong, though, including Alexander Skarsgård as Dr. Nathan Lind, Millie Bobby Brown as Bernie fan Madison, and Kyle Chandler as her dad, Mark. Mostly what matters is that Godzilla and King Kong are back, and still willing to work together, even if they don’t like each other.

You could go back further in the story if you like, but only if monster introductions interest you: 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island introduce the lead Titans, while 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monstersshows how all these other Titans became an issue for modern Earth. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters concerns itself with the people who first learned of the Titans’ existence.

Nope. Not even a mid-credits