Does Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters Confirm Bigfoot Exists In Godzilla's Universe?
Contains spoilers for "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" Season 1, Episode 1 — "Aftermath"
The world of Apple TV+ original series "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" is crawling with kaiju. It's not just Godzilla or King Kong either — there are giant arachnids, giant crabs, giant insects ... and Bigfoot, apparently? The North American cryptid gets a quick shout-out near the end of Episode 1 when Cate (Anna Sawai), Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and May (Kiersey Clemons) pore over digital files left behind by Cate and Kentaro's mysterious father.
The files reveal a massive amount of information regarding Monarch and its monstrous targets. Hilariously, that list includes Bigfoot. When an image of the ridiculous Sasquatch comes up on the monitor, Cate asks what everyone is thinking: "Is that Bigfoot?" Sadly, no answer is provided, with Kentaro immediately distracted by more important matters. Bigfoot is not brought up again.
There's something endlessly funny about the idea of an underground corporation whose business is combating creatures the size of skyscrapers keeping tabs on Bigfoot, who, by most accounts, is just a hairy dude from the Pacific Northwest. That's probably why it's a one-off joke (so far) — because no writer can justify Bigfoot as a Big Bad in a series that also features Godzilla, the literal King of the Monsters.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is populated with new cryptids
If Monarch has eyes in the sky on Bigfoot, then who else is fair game? We're talking Marvel Cinematic Universe levels of interconnectivity here — the kind of monster cameos that would make Universal's ill-fated Dark Universe froth with jealousy. Assuming "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" receives another season, will Apple TV+ lock in that coveted Loch Ness Monster IP? Or since size is apparently no object, maybe an appearance from the chupacabra would boost ratings. If Bigfoot is on the table, then Yetis should be too. They're practically cousins!
While fun creatures like these might not make an appearance, there's at least a guarantee of some new faces. During an interview with Moviefone, "Legacy of Monsters" director and executive producer Matt Shakman teased, "We did get to invent a whole bunch of new characters ... we wanted them to fit into their environment ... when I found this location in Hawaii that was this volcanic rock jetty that went out into the water, it felt exactly like Skull Island ... I went climbing down to the end of it, and suddenly, all these crabs that I didn't see that were camouflaged against the rock ran away. I thought, 'Oh, my gosh. Well, that's what we must do. We have to do a camouflaged crab monster that fits this environment.'"
So ... maybe no Bigfoot, then — not unless Monarch steers our heroes toward the Pacific Northwest. "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" is now available to stream on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping every Friday through January 12, 2024.