Netflix's Skull Island: When Does It Take Place In The MonsterVerse Timeline?
The MonsterVerse has dipped its toe into the realm of animated television with "Skull Island," a new Netflix show set on King Kong's titular home. Animated by Powerhouse Animation Studios — the company responsible for series like "Castlevania," "Blood of Zeus," and "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" — the new installment in Legendary's "Godzilla" franchise has earned strong reviews so far, but it also fills a curious role in the larger MonsterVerse story.
Most of the film series takes place in and around the modern day, with 2014's "Godzilla" taking place that same year. In the canon of the MonsterVerse, Godzilla emerged and caused chaos in 1954, but he only reemerges during the events of his eponymous movie. "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and "Godzilla vs. Kong" both take place successively after the first film, with "Kong: Skull Island" flashing the whole story back several decades and being set in 1973. And of course, bits of lore sprinkled throughout the whole franchise reveal that both Godzilla and Kong — two members of a giant-creature category referred to as "Titans" — are ancient beings with a history that goes back to prehistoric Earth.
So where exactly does the "Skull Island" series fit into the larger MonsterVerse timeline? According to star Nicolas Cantu, who voices Charlie in the show, it's set right in the middle of things. Speaking with Nerdist in a recent interview, the actor confirmed that "Skull Island" takes palace in the early 1990s, which makes it an interesting nexus point for the larger series.
How does Skull Island affect the MonsterVerse timeline?
If you've only been watching the MonsterVerse entries and not reading any supplementary materials, you might think that "Skull Island" is the first story in the franchise to be set in the '90s. In reality, the canon comic series "Skull Island: The Birth of Kong" features another expedition to the island in 1995, which would presumably come after the events of the Netflix series. That expedition, like the one in "Kong: Skull Island," is led by Monarch — the international organization dedicated to studying and defending humanity against the Titans.
Both Monarch ventures are quite different from the one seen in the Netflix series, which is more of an accidental shipwreck. The continued danger found on the island in the show is proof that while Monarch may have started monitoring Kong's home in the wake of the 1973 excursion, the organization never really had much control there until much later.
Skull Island becomes a hub of Titan activity during and after "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," as it's one of the only ways into the "Hollow Earth" where most Titans reside. For this reason, Monarch constructs a full facility on the island by the start of "Godzilla vs. Kong," but no such place exists during the early '90s when the animated series takes place. Godzilla himself hasn't reemerged yet, nor has the 1999 Janjira Nuclear Power Plant emergency that kicks things off in the 2014 film occurred. That makes the island the only real home for Titans on the surface of Earth at the time of the show.
Could Skull Island play into future MonsterVerse movies?
"Skull Island" is kind of an anomaly in the MonsterVerse. It's both the franchise's first TV show and first animated project, and it's certainly the most ancillary installment outside of the tie-in books and comics. But could it still play a role in future movies, like 2024's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire?"
It might seem unlikely given the spin-off nature of the show, but it's not impossible. Per Collider, the official synopsis for "Godzilla x Kong" claims that the film will be "pitting the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own." That could mean any number of things, but Legendary also named Skull Island specifically in the synopsis, writing, "The epic new film will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever."
That certainly opens the door for some direct connections between the Netflix series and the movies. Maybe we'll see some character from the show make the jump through time into a live-action story, or at least some monster designs. If nothing else, "Skull Island" has given fans something fun to tide them over while they await the next MonsterVerse film.