Cosmic Circle Ep. 52: 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' Discussion

[00:00:18] Speaker A: Hello, and welcome to the Cosmic Circle, the official podcast for thecosmiccircus.com. I'm Isla Ruby, and in this episode, we're going to be chatting about Godzilla and legendary's monsterverse. We have some amazing folks on today. Do you guys want to say hi? [00:00:35] Speaker B: Hey, there. It's Brian Kitson. I'm glad to be back. It's been a while since I've been on a podcast. I feel like I've been slacking on my duties here, so it's good to be on. [00:00:43] Speaker A: We missed you. [00:00:45] Speaker C: Hey, it's Uday here. I'm very excited to talk about the monsterverse today because I'm high on Godzilla after watching both the new empire and monarch in the last week or so. [00:00:57] Speaker B: What a drug to be high on. [00:01:01] Speaker C: It's the only drug I want to be high on besides Lido. [00:01:05] Speaker A: I'm excited to talk, too, and I can't wait to hear all of what you think, because you stayed up very, very late watching Monarch. And I just am very excited to chat. So before we go any further, this is your official spoiler alert. If you haven't seen Godzilla Kong, the new empire, or monarch, then go no further. There are titans that may just be sleeping cats ahead. Okay, so it's been, like, a little bit more than a week since Godzilla Kong, and we talked about this in the pre show. It's not Godzilla x Kong. It's Godzilla Kong. Came out in theaters. Have you both seen the film? What did you think? Anyone can start. I don't care. [00:01:49] Speaker B: So I did see the film. I went this past Monday, I took my nephew. I'm gonna preface this by saying that I was not a Godzilla person in the slightest until my nephew came around. My nephew is very into action films. He loves action films. He made me sit down and watch all the Godzilla and Kong movies. [00:02:04] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:02:04] Speaker B: And so, yeah, so this was something that, like, within the last year, we've watched. I think we watched right before. Maybe it's been two years. We watched them right before the last one came out, and it was. It was good. I mean, so I think that I am, like. I'm really excited for what Ude has to say because I feel like my bar is very low for these films because I have no. I did not grow up on these, like, Godzilla films. Monsters don't. Don't necessarily do it for me. I am very good at enjoying films. It's like, this film was okay. This film was good. It had good action. It had good storylines. Why is Godzilla sings first when he's only in like, seven minutes of this film. I do not understand that. This is definitely a Kong film. You should just drop the Godzilla X. These are all great thoughts, but that's kind of where I stand with, with Godzilla, Kong, the new empire. [00:02:58] Speaker C: Godzilla's name is first because he's the one that can sell a ticket. [00:03:02] Speaker A: That's right. [00:03:03] Speaker B: But it's not his film. It's not his film. [00:03:06] Speaker C: But when you're the best part of the movie, your name should come first. So I, well, I don't like the criticism that he's only in seven minutes of the movie because someone posted a breakdown. And the most he's ever been in one of these movies is like nine or ten minutes. I also don't like, I just, I don't like that method of like, oh, this character is only in a movie for a certain, like, amount of screen time. And it's just like every second, like a corner of their elbow is on the screen. Because it doesn't, like, matter. I think your screen time, it matters the impact you have. Like, like I say that Iron man feels like a character in Spider man far from home. He has zero minutes of screen time, but you feel the weight of him over the entire movie, and that makes him feel like he's there. So I don't like the screen time thing to begin with. [00:03:52] Speaker B: But I'm going to argue this, though. Kong is the star of that film, his storyline. Yeah, absolutely. [00:04:01] Speaker C: It is a Kong movie. I agree with that. It's a Kong movie. And, and I'll say I didn't grow up on Godzilla or Kong. Like, I'm a Jurassic park kind of guy. Like, so I like Godzilla because he's a giant lizard. But I saw King of the monsters in theaters, but I didn't see the rest of the monsterverse movies until, like, 2021. And I didn't catch Godzilla versus Kong until 2022. And I absolutely hated it. I thought it was garbage. So I was really not excited for this movie. I loved the way Godzilla looked. I thought the trailer looked really kind of dumb, though. And then the day I went to go see it, I wasn't having a great week, but I had tickets booked for the Thursday night premiere, and I had to drag myself out of the house to go watch it. And as I was walking into the theater, I was like, should I just turn around and go home? But I really wanted popcorn, so I sat down and I ended up really enjoying the movie. I thought that that was like, I think it would be the best monsterverse movie to me. But I haven't seen the 2014 Godzilla in a couple of years, so maybe it'd be tied with that one. But yeah, it really surpassed my expectations because Godzilla versus Kong had just knocked them so low. [00:05:17] Speaker A: I want to jump back a minute because I totally agree and I'm so glad that Brian brought it up that this was very much Kong's movie because not only did he have. He had the most stuff, but he had an arc. I felt like I was empathizing with this weird CGI giant, giant Gorilla and, like, I felt very sad for him, you know, that he had no family, that he had no. That he just, like, wanted to be loved. And I thought that was, you know, kind of an unexpected and kind of brilliant thing about this movie. And I wish that, like, I wish that the trailers and I wish that all of the previews for this movie had kind of sold that because I would have bought in and been so much more excited for this story had that been the deal. But that said, I also get that, you know, a certain. That most people are just going to see this movie because they want to see, you know, Godzilla and Kong fighting, which we did get for a while because they wanted to see, like, the iconic moments where, what was it? Godzilla carried Kong on his back, I think. And I think that was, I mean, I may be reversing it, but, like, my theater cheered when that happened. And there were all these moments, you know, where the monsters were fighting that the theater cheered. So, like, I, I thought it was a good movie. I thought it was, um, good for what it was. I wasn't expecting an Oscar caliber film, but for a film where, you know, you have giant monsters fighting each other, I thought it delivered exactly what I expected. [00:06:50] Speaker B: I will say this, though. I felt like Godzilla was shoon horned in. I felt like you could have removed him and still had a great movie. In fact, I think it would have been better without all of it because that was just, every time we went, like, it was just a reason to flip back to, like, the, the, our side of the earth, you know, from, from Hollow Earth and stuff. I was just, it felt almost unnecessary to me to have Godzilla in this film. It should have been Kong, new empire. You should have found another way around it. Just have him in Mothra. Like, I feel like after you have avengers, you don't keep having just, you know, I guess Captain America Civil War doesn't count because that's technically an Avenger. So, you know what I mean? Like, we have, we have these characters, you can go back to. It should have just been Kong's film. And I feel like it kind of took a, took away from this huge storyline, this huge, like, finding himself and finding a found family and saving his kind. And like, all that was taken away because there was a gigantic lizard absorbing energy and decided to become a trans icon by becoming pink. I mean, like, this is exactly what happened. And like, you didn't need that. You didn't need that to have this film. [00:07:56] Speaker C: I disagree because I think the trans community very much needed Godzilla to become their new icon. [00:08:04] Speaker B: Godzilla should give his own film where he does this. I would watch it. [00:08:07] Speaker C: Okay, so I I agree with that. Like, I I kind of think that Godzilla was shoehorned in as well. He cuz because Kong was, yeah, going on this journey of self discovery and Godzilla was just like eating. Like, he'd show up on screen, eat some stuff, look cool, and then he'd go back to, like, the actual story. And as a Godzilla fan, I would love to get a Godzilla movie where he has as much of a personal character arc as Kong does. Because I do think that Kong is better served in that way by these monsterverse movies. Maybe it's because he's an ape. So because he's closer to humans, the human filmmakers are more interested in telling an emotional story with him. But by this point in the monsterverse, Godzilla really has just become like he's a protector or whatever, but that's all he is. I feel like he doesn't have the depth that now Kong has at the same point. And he's had more movies. [00:09:02] Speaker A: I almost feel that a lot of Godzilla's purpose in this film was just to provide kind of a ticking clock and that element of tension for monarch because monarchs was worried about Kong and they were worried about all that stuff going on, but they were like, also really worried about, oh, what's Godzilla do next? Who's he going to fight next? He's charging up all this energy. There was, like a lot of the tension in the movie initially with the humans just, you know, surrounded Godzilla and surrounded what his next move was going to be or where he was going to sleep next and what he was going to, you know, smash next. So I think that's part of that was part of the only reason he was in the movie. [00:09:42] Speaker B: Weirdly, it would have been cooler. Let me spin you this idea real quick. Okay. So if we would have just told the story of Kong. Okay, you follow that narratively. But if we had a film then that came out for Godzilla, that ran perpendicular and maybe extended past it. And you could have had some of that. You could have ended Kong on a cliffhanger, first off, which, everybody loves the cliffhanger except me. But I think that that would have been cooler to have the perpendicular storylines have something more for Godzilla, because, again, it just sounds like Godzilla was this. It was cool. Like the fight with the, with the ice. Uh, well, not ice dragon, but, like, when you went under the water and you're like, ice Godzilla. [00:10:22] Speaker A: Oh, no, I know what you mean. Never mind. [00:10:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that was super cool. But it also, I was just like, is this necessary? Like, like, we're cutting these scenes down in Hollow Earth. It felt like they didn't have enough story of any story to tell the story that they really wanted to tell. So they were trying to, like, shoehorn two stories together to make it sellable, which is exactly what Uday was saying. It's. They were trying to sell tickets. [00:10:44] Speaker C: Yeah, I completely agree. Because it is only ticket selling that they were both in this. Because. Yeah, like, because I'll tell you right now, I would not have gone to see the Kong movie in theaters if this was just Kong. You would not have gotten to buy me a ticket. So it is, like, purely a business decision, and I'm the consumer that's buy the ticket because you put Godzilla's name first. So that is kind of a shame. Like, maybe the monsterverse is suffering from, like, the same thing. The MCU started to where after the Avengers movies, they did have solo movies, but after, like, 2015, all the solo movies had other people in them. Like, I don't think that, like, we've really gotten a true solo Marvel movie after an Avengers team up, because then you have Black Widow in Captain America and you've got Hulk and Loki in, or not Loki, but, like, Hulk and Valkyrie and Ragnarok. Like, everything becomes a mini team up. And with Godzilla and Kong, there's not six main characters to choose from. There's only the two of them. So I'm. I actually wonder if we would ever get a movie with just the focus on one of them again, because now that you've put them together, like, how do you take them apart without watching the box office fall? [00:11:54] Speaker A: Not to. Not to go too much into the MCU stuff, but I think you could argue, too, that that's a marketing decision because, you know, Marvel has to generate hype for future projects for things announced down the line, too. And I think that's some of the purpose. And having and sell merchandise, I think that's some of the reason that they have all these additional team up characters in the movies, even if they don't necessarily make a lot of sense in the story in some ways. But I'm curious for you both. So on Reddit, there's these very active monsterverse subreddits, and there was a lot of discussion about whether or not we could just see an entirely Titan movie without any human. So if we could see just, you know, a Godzilla and Kong movie without any people kind of, what do you think about that? Do you think? Would you watch something like that? Or would, does that not appeal to you? [00:12:52] Speaker B: So what I love about this idea is that I think that with this film, we see that this could happen, especially because, again, Uday brought up a great point. Kong is very like, he's close to being like, and he's close in our chain to being human. You know, he has these emotions. You could read his face. And like, I think, like, if you have somebody like Kong in a film that is just titans, you have something you still relate to. I also just think that it'd be really cool to have, you know, titans going at each other because I grew up on Power Rangers and they didn't have facial expressions, especially when they got to be in the megazords against the bad guys, they're all just faceless. So that I would be interested in seeing that. I think that'd be a really cool, cool idea. And I think that they could pull it off if they had the right person at the reins. [00:13:43] Speaker C: I think that's key. You would need the right person at the reins. Personally, I would not want to watch an all monster like monsterverse movie. I did think the stretches of time in Godzilla X Kong where they didn't have humans, I thought they worked like Kong, still had a lot of personality without speaking. But I don't think I would want to go a whole movie with that because there were definitely points in the movie where I was relieved or it felt refreshing to get back to humans that could talk instead of just reading his face. I don't go to these movies for real depth. I go to them to watch the monsters punch each other. And so Godzilla X Kong struck the right balance for me where there were human characters that didn't take up too much screen time but still had a story I was invested in. And I got plenty of time with just the monsters. I thought it was the best balance of any monsterverse movie so far, but I feel like I would get annoyed having to interpret Kong's feelings for 2 hours in a movie. [00:14:47] Speaker A: So maybe we're a little bit mixed then, on the idea of a David Attenborough monster titan movie without any actual people. [00:14:55] Speaker C: That's an idea. We need a documentary. We need a documentary. [00:15:00] Speaker B: But I also would want to argue of, like, without specifically monarch, what do the humans add to these stories? Like, you know what I mean? [00:15:08] Speaker C: Absolutely nothing. They're adding nothing. [00:15:10] Speaker B: Like, exactly. You could have taken out. Granted. I loved these characters in this film. I thought they were hilarious. Dan Stevens character, by far, is one of my favorites. Yes. And. Oh, my God, the young girl, the one that's super important. Yeah. [00:15:25] Speaker C: Gia. [00:15:26] Speaker B: Yes. Fantastic. I love them. You also don't need them. Like, they're like. There was really, like, I guess you need her. You do need her, because you need. Yes. Real quick, I also want to go back because Uda, you said about you wouldn't go see a film that had just Kong on it. So I just for shits and giggles, was looking at the box office numbers for these films and Kong, the Skull island, the first one, has made the most money out of any film out of the monsterverse. [00:15:57] Speaker C: What? [00:15:58] Speaker A: It's all John Goodman. [00:16:00] Speaker C: I knew it made more money than the first Godzilla, but I didn't realize it was the highest grossing monsterverse movie. [00:16:05] Speaker B: Period, which I will also give that. Godzilla versus Kong came out during the pandemic, and it was. It was both on streaming right away, correct? No, it wasn't. Okay. It was. [00:16:17] Speaker C: It was. It was day and day. [00:16:19] Speaker B: So you have 529 million for the first Godzilla. Skull island is 568, and they just go down from there. So I guess you actually. You go down to 387 for the second Godzilla. Godzilla versus Kong still made 470. So I do think that. But Kong does sell. I think that there is a reality where Kong's name on that does sell. But as of right now, the box office for the new empire is at 361 million. So, like, obviously, together, they do. They do move money. Sorry. [00:16:54] Speaker A: I think that. So, you know, there was a point that what do the humans actually add to this story? And I think the humor is one big thing. There was a lot from the humans that I really, really loved. Like, I loved everything from Brian Tyree or. Yeah, Tyree. Henry as Bernie. I just, like, got such a kick out of that and everything. Trapper obviously was great, and I don't know, I just kind of want to be on Bernie's discord server. [00:17:22] Speaker C: So I like Gia, and I like the whole, like, iwi tribe and everything. I'm less interested in, like, the humor side of it. Like, they were funny. I found them funny, like the characters. I liked Dan Steven's Trapper. I don't care for Brian Tyree Henry's character. He's a major part of why I didn't like Godzilla versus Kong. There were many other problems with that movie, but I find him very grating, and he was slightly better in this movie. Not the actor, the character, Brian Tyree Henry. But I find the character grating. He was okay in this movie. I didn't think he took up too much time, but there were definitely times when I wish he had a smaller role. And so I'm interested in the humans being in these movies. But again, maybe you could do a monsterverse movie where the only people are the iwi who can't speak, right. The tribes in Skull island and everything. I don't think they speak only Jia signs, and so I'd be interested in that. You would still have the human element, but they wouldn't be talking. They wouldn't be, like, monarchy. But, yeah, that's if you're gonna do. [00:18:32] Speaker B: Something with them speaking and having bigger roles. Because I think, like, one of the things I took away from Godzilla, Kong, the new Empire, I still wanted to say the x in the middle there, but I can't. No. Is that, like, true. But there was, like, unnecessary, like, romance plots, and there's, like, unnecessary, like, you know, like, I don't know. Some of these characters are made to feel very character. Like. Like a character character. You know what I'm trying to say? Like, Brian Tyree Henry's character, Bernie, he's very, like. I don't know, to the extreme of what his character would be. You're gonna do it, right? The character, if you tell us human story in the monsterverse, like Monarch. Because those characters are actually enjoyable. [00:19:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Because it is a very human story in a world where there are monsters. [00:19:21] Speaker A: That's the big difference between, I think, the tv show and the, you know, the movies. The movies are very solidly like monster movies with humans just kind of sprinkled in, whereas the tv shows, you know, are human stories, like you said. [00:19:35] Speaker C: Yeah. Don't even get me started on Monarch, because I loved, like, the human stories in Monarch. Like, I was so interested in everything going on there. Like, I love that I can go to a movie and cheer for Godzilla while he destroys the Golden Gate Bridge. And then I get to go to Apple TV, where I found out how he ruined this lady's life. Because he killed a bus full of schoolchildren on the Golden Gate bridge. Like, I love that so much. Like, I feel like the movies are shifting towards this more, like, slapstick comedy. Like, just, like, stupid fun kind of thing, which I love. But then if we're gonna get a tv show that really, like, digs into what all of this means to live in that world, it's, like, the best of both worlds to me, because I thought Monarch was by far the best thing that's come out of the monsterverse. [00:20:23] Speaker A: They're very tonally different in that way. Monsterverse is not, or monarch is not, like you said, doesn't lean into that humor. There's not a whole lot that's funny. Like, trapper in monarch, although, uh, Wyatt Russell is great in some ways, 100%. Um, yeah, Brian. [00:20:50] Speaker B: I think that. I think that what they also did really well is that they picked. They got a really good dramatic cast for monarch. Again. Yes, totally. It's very different. This was very much, uh, more of, like, kind of what. Sorry for the comparison. Again, kind of what Marvel wanted secret invasion to be this, like, almost gritty, you know, real. But, like, we're in a world where there are monsters, and, like, there's not a character in that show that I didn't love to see on the screen. Did I fall asleep a few times? Yes, because I watched this at night, so I had to rewatch episodes. But I mean, like, the whole. The trio, like, the three young people in our time, all of them were great together. They had great chemistry. They balanced, like, being funny, but also, like, serious stuff's happening. Like, the world's imploding and, like, there's monsters and, like, there's this world, and, like, of course, getting Wyatt and Kurt Russell to play the same character, but different decades was one of the smartest things that anyone's ever done. And why have we not done more of this when we are casting parents and children? [00:22:00] Speaker C: Marvel did it first. Chaka. [00:22:05] Speaker B: Touche. Touche. I'll give you that. But then. Oh, my. Like, I'm sorry. There's just. There's. Every character is good. The storyline in the past is good in engaging. There's not a single thing that feels like it is. She horned in. It felt very natural, and I don't know if it's just because, again, this was made for a tv show, like, for, like, a streamer. They had more time to develop it. They were trying to push out another Godzilla film. Whatever it was, Monarch did it. Right. And also, the graphics were fantastic for being a television show. I just. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Oh, my God. Like, Godzilla looked just as good on tv, as he did in the movies. I was like. I was flabbergasted, but I wanted to say that they are tonally very different, but I still feel like they pretty much completely fit together. And I'm sorry to use another Marvel comparison, but I do want to add the disclaimer that the MCU is the easiest thing to compare the monsterverse to. They're the only two successful cinematic universes. Sorry, DC, but you're getting Star Trek. [00:23:08] Speaker A: My heart is so sad. [00:23:11] Speaker C: That was before my time. Sorry, but no. I do think Godzilla X Kong is the most successful interconnected universe after Marvel. And now that they're going into tv, what Apple and legendary did with Monarch is I think they perfected adding another layer of a cinematic universe by doing a streaming show in a way that Marvel couldn't. And part of it is because Marvel did, like, ten at once and not one show. But the way that Monarch fleshes out what we've seen in the movies and yet doesn't add a bunch of plot holes, it's really impressive to me because there were certain things in the final episodes of Monarch where I'm like, this is inconsistent with what we're seeing in Godzilla X Kong. But they went out of their way to address that, because I was like, why does time pass differently in the hollow Earth? Because they're spending days down there. They have a permanent outpost in Godzilla X Kong, but it wasn't that they were all the way in the hollow Earth. So I was very impressed at how much was able to be connected in that series without creating these really annoying inconsistencies, even though they are completely, totally different. [00:24:26] Speaker A: To jump back a little bit to what you guys said about Godzilla looking really good and Apple really doing a good job with that, I completely agree. And I think Apple has really just, with all their tv shows, if you look at, for all mankind, Palme Royale, which is out now, I'm just like, the production design, the world building is just absolutely perfect, and it's something that, you know, it's not held together with duct tape. It's just really well researched. It's really well done, and it makes these worlds, these stories, feel so much more real. And I think one more thing about Monarch is that it's kind of unique and fresh in that we don't get a lot of stories that deal with, like, the day after the end of the world almost. And it feels like we are seeing, like you mentioned, you know, the San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, and, you know, the school, school bus full of kids. Like, we don't really get to see the, like, what happens to the characters, how they're dealing with that trauma, how that, that stress of, you know, the big battles, and we get to see that here. And that's just really a unique take. [00:25:32] Speaker B: I have a question, I guess, like, I have a question for you then, because I've heard that part of the reason why things that, like, Apple does are slightly different is because being a tech company, they're not as worried about the bottom line of making shows because that's not their top priority. Do you think that's why they're like, they're like, they weren't, they weren't as bothered when Argyle didn't make a whole bunch of money in the box office because they're a tech company that's making billions of dollars and therefore they could spend more time making Godzilla perfect in a tv show. Is that kind of what's going on here? [00:26:05] Speaker A: I mean, it sounds like it could be. I don't know. Like, I don't have any, any firsthand knowledge of it, but I think it makes a lot of sense. I've also read a couple of articles that have said that, like, the powers that be at Apple, the tech company, are big fans of science fiction. Surprise. Because, you know, if you're in tech, that's not a far, far jump. So they're willing. Yeah. To. Willing to invest in these shows, willing to invest in these franchises, willing to just make the television shows that they themselves want to watch and make them look good instead of, you know, not so good. [00:26:40] Speaker C: That's a, that's a great point because I feel like you're also seeing that with Amazon. I know that some people didn't like the Lord of the Rings tv show, but I thought it was excellent. And even if you didn't like it, I think it was excellent groundwork for the later seasons of the show. But I just don't think you see the kind of care and patience that Amazon and Apple are putting into these shows on Disney. Like, I think every show that's like, Disney pluses flagship has some kind of, like, major issue with it. And I don't think X Men 97 is a flagship show. Like, when I'm talking flagships, I'm talking, like, mandalorian Percy Jackson, and, like, the biggest Marvel shows, like Loki, WandaVision, like, the ones that they want to define their streaming service the way that Apple wants monarch to be the lead Sci-Fi show on their service. Or Lord of the Rings is supposed to be Amazon's number one thing, right? And so I find that really interesting, because the major thing with Lord of the Rings at Amazon is that it was said, it's like, Jeff Bezos put a billion dollars into making his fan fiction come to life. It didn't matter if it lost a billion dollars for Amazon, because a billion dollars to Jeff Bezos is nothing as long as it got, like, eyes on his streaming service and he got something he wanted to watch out of it. So I think it's very interesting that we see these kinds of things happening at Amazon and Apple, and it's leading to, I think, the shows being better made and just better in general. [00:28:12] Speaker A: I think wheel of time, in some respects, too, should be mentioned up there with Lord of the Rings. And I don't know if you've watched it, but that's just like, the detail in that show is mind blowing, even just from the costumes to just, like, the. Like, it's. It's beautiful. And again, if you like, I had the opportunity at Comic Con to watch it on the big screen, which was, like, some of the episodes of Wheel of Time, and it was just, holy crap, that that is like, that should be on the big screen because it's just so well done. And I don't know if I would agree with you on. On Percy Jackson, with Disney and some of the other Disney fair, because I do think that a lot of, um, a lot of care, a lot of budget, and a lot of effort is put into some of the shows. And that specifically, I think, is really as an example of that. [00:29:02] Speaker B: I think part of it, too, I was gonna say part of it, too, is comparing this. I know that this is slightly off topic, but I will wrap it back around. Is that when Marvel was putting out these tv shows, I think one of the producers made a comment that they were still working on the CGI and stuff, as they were, like, after the fact, but they, like, needed to put it out. And, in fact, I recently went back and watched WandaVision on one of the days. I was feeling kind of anxious, and I needed something. Like, I was like, I know this. I hadn't watched it since it came out of DVD, and there was actually scenes that were more refined and looked different than before. And so I was like, oh. And I went back and started watching some of the other shows. Hawkeye had some of this going on. Like, they're still updating some of these things. Monarch was 100% looking finished. It was a finished product. It's kind of like when you get that video game. It's like, it comes out, but, like, putting all the updates out or this is the complete product. This is what we wanted. And that's what you felt here with Monarch, is that this was the product that they wanted and they. They gave it. And every episode was like, it wasn't cut down to 15 minutes, and it wasn't just all credits and, like, it actually had a storyline. You didn't feel like it was edited all to hell. Like, there's actually all, like, it was complete and it was done and it looked beautiful. And that was something that I really appreciated about monarch, even more so than Godzilla Kong, new Empire. [00:30:22] Speaker C: It's funny. Sorry, I was just going to say, like, I fully agree with that. Like, when I'm comparing Disney shows to Amazon and Apple shows, I do feel like even with the shows on Disney, that a lot of budget and attention is put into, there's still so many corners cut. I still felt that on Percy Jackson, I thought it was a good show, but I did not think it was a great show because I could just see, like, where they cheaped out. And it doesn't feel like that with something like Monarch. And it feels like there's an air of desperation there on Disney because they're hemorrhaging cash. Like, they can't afford to sit on Percy Jackson, but Apple's making a trillion dollars off of their phones. They can afford to sit on Monarch until it looks perfect. [00:31:05] Speaker A: They can do whatever they want. [00:31:07] Speaker C: And, yeah, I think that that's, like, a really important distinction. And, yeah, it might be why we're seeing better quality streaming content coming from the places that aren't movie studios. [00:31:16] Speaker A: I'll note about Disney and, you know, we've, as part of the cosmic circus, we've gotten screeners and stuff from some Marvel shows on occasion. And, you know, it makes me think of Moon Knight. We got those screeners and, you know, it was. What was it, like a couple weeks before the show came out and a lot of the VFX and the action in some of the. And the scenes just wasn't there. Just. And it was really. Yep. Brian, you know, you got the screeners, too, and it was just totally weird. [00:31:47] Speaker B: Episode four, I did not know when we got it because we got it, like a week before the show came out, maybe two weeks. I didn't know how they were to get episode four done. There was just so much that was, like, left on, like, the floor when we saw that first cut. And I was like, there's no way they're going to finish this in four weeks. [00:32:03] Speaker A: Yep. And, you know, Disney in particular, and Marvel as well, has been known for kind of maybe mistreating VFX people. You know, a lot of talk about how overworked these, these amazing artists are. So, like, you can. It kind of all comes together. And I don't know if I've heard the same thing about Apple or Amazon, but, you know, maybe I'm. Maybe I'm missing the conversations there. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say I've not heard everything about Apple has been good. And, like, you know, I think that when you, again, you take the time, and I don't know if this is, like, apple or it's legendary or if it's both of them working together to just want to really put out a good product. They're doing a good job, because even I will say this. Godzilla Kong New Empire had some of the best looking CGI that I've seen from a film. And in quite a while, you know, like, it looked smooth. It looked good. It looked like, not that. Like, I. Granted, I'm not looking at Godzilla and saying, yeah, he's really in the coliseum, you know, like, I'm not looking at it. Like, I could totally see him there. But it did look real enough that you could buy it. You know what I mean? Like, you could buy that a gigantic lizard was chillin in the coliseum. [00:33:12] Speaker C: You really could. I think some of the CGI in Godzilla x Kong was, like, fairly bad. But I. But maybe. I don't know. Like, towards the end, like, I feel like the whole, like, what was going on in the final battle, I thought, like, it's hard to tell if the CGI is bad or if it's just going for, like, an unrealistic look, you know, because when Godzilla's sleeping in the coliseum, like, it looks like he's there. [00:33:40] Speaker A: It's beautiful. [00:33:41] Speaker C: But when Godzilla's charging with Kong, like, in the hollow earth area, I'm just like, this is like a kid playing with his toys, and so it's still cool. But, yeah, maybe it's not that the CGI is bad. Maybe it's that they're aiming for realism on Earth and they're aiming for unrealism in hollow Earth. So they don't took the words out of my mouth. They don't want you thinking it's real in hollow earth. They want you thinking it's fake, and they want you having fun. [00:34:05] Speaker A: Now, what did you think about the Rio fight? Did he feel that that was realistic, or did you feel that that suffered the same hollow Earth issue. [00:34:14] Speaker C: I don't think it matters when you have scar King using his little bone chain to grab a skyscraper and chuck it at whoever he threw that thing at. That's really how I feel about Godzilla x Kong, is that I don't care if there were things that I didn't like, because if you're going to give me something like Kong writing Godzilla and scar King writing Shimo, and then they're, like, charging at each other, I'm like, who cares? Who cares if it's bad when you're giving me that? But I don't think it was bad. [00:34:46] Speaker B: I will say, when you compare the fights, I feel like the fight of them in Egypt looked perfect. It looked more realistic than the. But again, I was going to say the same thing. Uday. They're like, when you're in hollow Earth and you have, like, earth on top and earth on bottom, and things are just floating, like, there is. The sense of realism does just go out of the, like. There's no way to, like, make that not slightly comical. So I think buying into that is just like, this is what we have, and, like, this is what it is. [00:35:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. [00:35:12] Speaker B: But I have a question for you guys. Why did hollow Earth look so much more real in monarch than it did in Godzilla Kong? You know what I mean? [00:35:25] Speaker C: It's the perspective of the characters. [00:35:28] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:35:29] Speaker C: Gonna look. It's gonna look real to the humans, and it's gonna look like. It's gonna look real when you're looking at it from a human perspective, because they want you to be in their shoes, and they want you to feel like, what would you do if you woke up in that place? But they're not trying to make you feel like, what would you do if you were Godzilla and you just dropped through a tunnel into, like, and you were fighting someone in this, like, crazy anti gravity situation, you know? So I feel like that's the difference. I think that, like, if season two of Monarch. I hope there's a season two. I hope to God, knock on wood. But if, like, they go, like, into the proper hollow Earth, because that also wasn't hollow Earth. That was Axis Mundi. That was limbo. [00:36:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:08] Speaker C: It was in between. So by, I think if Monarch season two goes into actual Hollow Earth, it's going to look way more like Skull island than it does in the movies because you're seeing it from that human perspective now. [00:36:20] Speaker A: Uday, I know you didn't see Monarch before, before the movie, but do you think people, just because, you know, we talked about the ending of Monarch a little bit. Do you think that people could reasonably have expected from Monarch and that what's his face being trapped in, you know, Axis Mundi to lead into Godzilla Kong at all, or they just different, different things? [00:36:46] Speaker C: I feel like they're just different things. Like, to me, Monarch does not feel like a Marvel style show that's supposed to bridge things. It doesn't feel like they want you to pick up with these characters in a movie. Monarch feels like it's picking up the pieces of what the movies leave behind. And I'm fine with that for now. But I was thinking towards the end of Monarch, I'm like, do I want to see these characters in a movie? And honestly, the answer is yes. Because if you're going to do multiple seasons of Monarch and you're going to still keep having movies and Monarch is going to be in these movies, you're going to really quickly run into an agents of S H I e l d situation where it's like, it makes no sense why these people aren't involved in these situations. [00:37:26] Speaker A: Time travel. No. [00:37:28] Speaker C: But there were also connections in Monarch that I didn't realize until I looked them up on Wikipedia. Like, I didn't realize that Bill Randa was in Skull island. Mm hmm. I thought he might have been, but I had to google it after the show ended. And then I didn't realize that that french agent Duvall, that she was the sister of a character in the prologue of the first Godzilla movie. I loved that character, and I completely bought into her whole mission because she's like, my sister died in Janjira, and I'm like, oh, I know that's from the first Godzilla movie. Great motive. But I didn't realize that her sister was on screen, and she's related to, like, Erin Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. So I far prefer that. I prefer dealing with the aftermath of the movies and fleshing these things out than, like, necessarily needing them to loop back into the movies and set things up for future movies. [00:38:24] Speaker A: That's fair. And I think that fits in with the. With the freshness of monarch, too. And dealing, like, aftermath is a great word for dealing with the after effects of everything that's happened. I want to get into, you know, we've talked a lot about specifics, but I kind of want to get into some fun stuff. We saw a lot of titans. We saw a lot of creatures. We had. We had this pink, supercharged Godzilla. We had ice Godzilla. We had scar king and not scar from the Lion King, which I had to keep, like, not making that mistake in my head. We had the little guy whose name I can't remember. We had Mothra. Um, did you, what did you think of these characters? Uh, was there anyone you wanted more of? Did you have a favorite not so favorite? [00:39:11] Speaker B: So, I mean, obviously did not love scar king. Who. Who's gonna love that man? That monkey? He's. He's a dick. And the way he treated ice gods. Listen, I don't even know half their names. I know that they have names because people talk about him. I used to have clients that were obsessed with Godzilla. I know I knew Mothra, but I also was sitting there the whole time, like, didn't Mothra die in the first film? And I had to, like, look it up, and I'm pretty sure it's not even Mothra that's in the first film. So, like, this, it shows you how bad I am with these characters and these monsters. I loved, I mean, I loved the. I loved the. The reawakening of Mothra because I always thought Mothra was supposed to be a bad guy. But the fact it was, like, reborn through this, you know, the savior, and, like, got to team up with Godzilla, I thought that was really cool. Again, love Godzilla. We love, we love a trans activist. I did. I thought it was a little corny that they gave Godzilla this gauntlet. I thought that was a little. But, like, at the same time, I was like, go off king. Like, what are you gonna do? Like, your arm's broken. You need something. It gave. That gave me a lot of agents of s h I e l d. Feel like, I don't know why. I was just like, that felt very like, the quick work around. Of course your arms broke, and we'll just put an exoskeleton on it, and you'll go beat up the bad guy. I'm like, I was content with my monsters. I don't know. I guess that's my takeaway. I was content with my monsters. [00:40:44] Speaker A: I want to just totally jump on that arm thing because I totally bought it. I'm like, okay, I'm here for this. I totally believe that there's just a giant arm in reserve. I'm not going to think about it too hard. I'm just going to enjoy the punching it gave me. [00:41:00] Speaker B: Like, the Hulkbuster fields from Age of Ultron. Age of Ultron. I was like, of course you just have this in Hollow Earth down here because why else? This is the perfect plot point. [00:41:09] Speaker C: Like, yeah, it doesn't even take five minutes. To get it. It's just like, yeah, sure, we've got that stashed in a tree right behind where he fell. Seriously. But I don't know. Like, my expectations for this movie were so low that I didn't even think, like, I knew there'd be a reason for Kong getting the arm, but, like, I didn't think there was going to be a reason for Godzilla being pink. I thought it was just like, he woke up one day and he's pink now because, like, wasn't he orange in, like, the first movie and then blue in King of the Monsters? [00:41:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:37] Speaker C: And I was like, yeah, he's pink now. Like, whatever, I'm behind it. But then they gave him, like, a reason, like, to be pink. And I was like, okay. Like, that's pretty nice. I like that. So I liked what little story Godzilla had. I've seen a lot of monsterverse fans complaining online, though, because apparently people really loved that little snake thing he killed that has the same name as the celestial from eternals. [00:41:59] Speaker A: Tiamat. [00:42:00] Speaker C: Tiamat. Or is like Tiamat or something in this one. Yeah. And so people were really complaining because they're like, I loved her in this comic, and I can't believe Godzilla, who's supposed to be our protector, would just go kill her for, like, in cold blood. But I loved it. Like, I just, I love all, I love all the monsters. And I really loved Shimo. Uh, that's the ice Godzilla thing because she looked a lot like Godzilla. I was, I was a little bit upset that she went with Kong at the end of the movie because, like, if Godzilla and Kong aren't going to be a couple, I don't get why Godzilla can't date Shimo. Because, you know, like, if we need to have heterosexual monsters, like, they would make, like, a really cute couple. [00:42:41] Speaker B: So are you sexualizing these monsters for relationships? [00:42:47] Speaker C: Like, I am not. The movie's called Godzilla x Kong. They did this to themselves. Have people have been making jokes about Godzilla, like, you know, effing Kong for, like, since the first trailer dropped? [00:42:59] Speaker A: I have not been on that part of. [00:43:00] Speaker C: You guys have not seen this? [00:43:01] Speaker A: No. I'm very glad I've not been on that part of the Internet. [00:43:05] Speaker C: Pushing Kong into the pyramid. And people are like, look, he's thrusting. This is, like, this is a thing. This is what makes it fun. So, yeah, I don't know. Like, I, I wanted them to stick in their pairs. I wanted Kong to go with the apes and I wanted Godzilla to go with Shimo. And for them to then maybe have some kind of story now that she's free. But I did like all the monsters. Again, I'm partial to the lizards. I do not like the giant apes at all. I don't care about them at all. Suko is the little baby. One little thing's not anywhere. Like, he's cool, but he's not anywhere near as cute as baby yoda or baby Groot. And I have a very controversial opinion on Kong that might make Brian upset. But I've been telling all my co workers I feel about Kong the same way I feel about Hulk in the MCU, which is that you've overstayed your welcome, and you should have died two movies ago. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Oh, no, that's so sad. [00:44:08] Speaker C: I mean, I don't think. I don't think Hong should die, but I am like, yeah, let's take a backseat, buddy. We spend too much time on you. Let's have some Godzilla centered action, because I feel like Kong was the main character in both of these last team up movies, and I'm done with it. I'm tired now. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Oh, boo. [00:44:30] Speaker B: The king has spoken. [00:44:32] Speaker A: I don't know. That's such a needle drop moment. That's just. Where do we go from there? [00:44:41] Speaker C: He's fine. [00:44:43] Speaker B: Listen, I'm of the. I'm of the mind that you could kill off Godzilla, and I'd rather watch Kong. [00:44:48] Speaker C: Yeah, and I'm of the opposite mind, so, see, this is, like, this is. This is the thing because. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just. I'm just not interested whatsoever in Kong as a character. I wasn't interested in him in Skull island, certainly not in Godzilla versus Kong. And this is, I think, is the most interesting he's been in this movie. And I did like his story, and I liked him, you know, finding the apes and, like, liberating them and everything, but now I'm done. Like, let him take a nap, and let's get some lizards out here again. [00:45:19] Speaker A: Okay. So I'm curious, given that, and, you know, it's not monsterverse, but I'm curious, did you watch Godzilla minus one? If you did, what did you think about it? Because it was, you know, it's a Godzilla solo movie. [00:45:33] Speaker C: I didn't. I missed it in theaters. Yeah. And then, because it was only in theaters for, like, a month, and I was out of the country for most of that month, so I really wish I had seen it, but I'm waiting for it to come out on, like, digital or streaming, and then I'll catch it. [00:45:48] Speaker B: I didn't see it either. I didn't see it either. Sorry. [00:45:53] Speaker A: But this is why we didn't have a Godzilla podcast before. So we have to get all our Godzilla talk out here. [00:45:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:46:00] Speaker C: And I mean, yeah, like, that is a Godzilla movie, but it's like, it's a completely separate franchise. [00:46:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:46:06] Speaker C: I think. I don't know much about the movie, but I believe it's approaching it from a slightly more sophisticated standpoint than the new empire approaches things. [00:46:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:46:15] Speaker C: And I mean, I like. I like Godzilla in the monsterverse. And so even if there's outside of monsterverse Godzilla content, I'm ready for Godzilla to be the center in the monsterverse again. That's part of what I really liked about monarch. There were plenty of monsters there, but there were no goddamn apes until, like, the last second of the show. That's the way it should be. But because even Monarch. Monarch opened on Skull island, and I was instantly disappointed. I was instantly like, we better get the hell off this island. Like, and never go back here. [00:46:45] Speaker A: So it's probably safe to say that you haven't seen the Netflix animated series, which is also part of the monsterverse, Skull island. [00:46:52] Speaker C: No, I have not. That's the one thing I haven't seen, and it's one thing I won't watch. Oh, I do not like Skull Island. I understand why people really liked Kong Skull island, but I had heard really good things about it, and then when I watched it, I just. I hated it. Like, it's well made. It's just not for me. [00:47:11] Speaker A: Do you. [00:47:12] Speaker B: We have a Brie Larson hater in the house. [00:47:15] Speaker C: No, we have a Brie Larson lover in the house. Don't you dare put that title on me. [00:47:21] Speaker A: I think that should be the headline of the podcast. [00:47:23] Speaker C: Oh, God, no. Then I'll have to link everyone to my lessons in chemistry review. Please, I swear. I love her. [00:47:28] Speaker A: And you love the marvels, too, right? I think you wrote a review about how it was fantastic, maybe. Or am I confusing it? [00:47:35] Speaker C: Don't back me to a corner. I did not love the marvels. But that wasn't. [00:47:39] Speaker B: I loved the marvels. That wasn't my Queen Brie Larson's fault. [00:47:43] Speaker C: That wasn't her fault. [00:47:45] Speaker B: We just can't help talking about the MCU. [00:47:47] Speaker C: No, we can't. But. But, yeah, I just. I don't like Skull Island. I can't do it like monarch. I don't like the creepiness parts of these things. Like, just a little bit of terror with the monsters is fine, but, like, I hated all the monsters on Skull island. So much like all of the deaths in that movie. Like, you're gonna get eaten by a lizard. [00:48:08] Speaker B: Sure. [00:48:09] Speaker C: You're gonna get crushed by a rock, thrown by a lizard, sure. But you're gonna get stabbed by, like, a spider that has trees for legs. No. [00:48:17] Speaker A: What about the monsters and monarch? Because you've got, like, a pretty important death early on from these. What are they? I don't know. These critters. [00:48:28] Speaker C: Insects. [00:48:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:30] Speaker C: I didn't like. Honestly, that was my least favorite scene, I think, in monarch, because it just felt so absolutely ridiculous where they're, like, they only have a little bit of time to collect some genetic material. But Shaw wants to spend three minutes arguing about who's gonna go, and then he insists on going with Keiko, but then he's the one that, like, steps on a crack that leads to her death, and then, like, she's hanging on for dear life, and he's, like, hanging there on the rope, like, two inches from the railing, trying to shoot at them instead of just hauling ass over and then helping pull her up. I hated that scene because it just. It was like, if Keiko had just done what she wanted to do, she would still be alive. But it's like Shaw got her killed because he was being an idiot. So I don't like that scene. But the monsters are not my biggest problem. [00:49:17] Speaker A: That's fair. [00:49:18] Speaker C: But I didn't like those things. [00:49:19] Speaker B: No. [00:49:19] Speaker C: Those were my least favorite monsters in Monarch. [00:49:22] Speaker A: Was there. So. Monarch season two. You said you hope there's more of it. What about you, Brian? Uday, you said you hope there's more of it. Brian, do you agree? Do you want a season two, or are you kind of solid where we are? [00:49:38] Speaker B: So this is my takeaway from this. See, this is hard. So, yes, I would. I would watch more. We also weird ended. You don't need more. I don't feel like. I feel like. Like it could. That was, like, a pretty cohesive story. I would watch more. Absolutely. And I think that maybe that's what the takeaway is, is that if they would make more, I tune in. I would like to see maybe different stories, and maybe. Maybe Monarch is, like, an anthology series where every season has a different timeframe or a different story or different characters. That would be awesome. That would be dope. I would love to see that. Um, so, like, maybe that's where it turns into. Maybe it's like a. Like an american horror story, but actually good. Um. [00:50:21] Speaker A: Oh, that's consistent. [00:50:25] Speaker B: Let me put that way. I love story. It's not it's not consistent. It's not consistently. Every season is good. I think that they could do that monarch, like, show me, uh, show. I don't know. Show me a 19. Like, when. When they were dropping them at the first time. Give me a different story during that period, like, the 1950s. Like. Like, give me, give me. I don't know. I want to see a renaissance monarch that's been around, you know, I'm just kidding. But. [00:50:49] Speaker C: So I completely. I agree with that. I feel like we do need more. Like, for me, it's not like I want more. I was thinking anthology as well, like, at the start or, like, halfway through this season, but then the way the season ended, I'm like, no, I need more. With these characters, their story is not wrapped up. Like, it's not wrapped up. It's open. Like, they, like, don't have any conclusion with their father yet. Their grandmother is still alive. There's so much more there, I think. But maybe it's like, every two seasons, you reset or something like that. Because I was also thinking, like, why don't we get a series set in the seventies following Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson's characters from Skull island? Because they were recruited by monarch, and we don't know what happened to them. So they'd be like. And both of them, like, you know, will do, like, a high quality streaming show. So I'd love to see them on something like that. But then you could even just do an anthology series that spins out of, like, each movie because monarch spun out of the first Godzilla, and it had ties to Skull island. But then now you can have a season spin out of the events of King of the monsters. You could have the season spin out of the events of Godzilla, X Kong, the new Empire. You could follow a family from Rio whose lives were destroyed. Right. You know, and then capture another demographic for your streaming service, so. [00:52:11] Speaker B: Right. I think that it could. It could do something along the lines of what, like, the Walking Dead's doing. Granted, I haven't watched it, but I know Drew is obsessed with it. It has stories, though, that have spun out, and they tell the different characters, and they. They've done different things. Like, you can do this. Part of me keeps thinking I was like, even though maybe I don't care. Okay, I'm not gonna be that mean. But, like, Millie, Bobby Brown's character, I would love to know what happened to her. I did enjoy her first. I was trying to be nice. [00:52:38] Speaker A: Just watch damsel. There's, like. There's, like, a dinosaur in there. [00:52:42] Speaker B: So hashtag, read my review. [00:52:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:45] Speaker B: Bring. [00:52:45] Speaker C: Bring back Aaron Taylor Johnson. Like, all of these human characters, like, you can do something with them. I like that the cast in the movies changes. Like, I mean, I guess you're right, Brian. I. I don't need to know what happened to Millie Bobby Brown, but if you're going to spotlight her and monarch, like, I definitely think that that would be interesting. I think there could be a story to tell there. I just don't think it's something. It's not something where I'm like, oh, we need to know what happened to her. But it would be nice to know, like, yeah, if you're going to give it to me, I'm not going to turn it down, but I'm not going to beg for it. [00:53:16] Speaker A: I kind of like the idea you mentioned about Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston because both of them also have histories with Apple. You know, you mentioned lessons in chemistry, but Tom Hiddleston was in the apple, like, six episode limited series the Essex Serpent. [00:53:31] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't know that. [00:53:32] Speaker A: Yeah. So it was. I don't know. It was, like, two years ago, maybe three years ago. Not a lot of people watched it because people apparently don't watch Apple shows, but that's another discussion. Um, but, yeah, like, there's history there. There's. There's relationships there that they could. Maybe Apple could use, especially following the. [00:53:52] Speaker B: Pattern that they're going to do. Like, we're going to. Rebecca Hall's character is going to drop out after this next film. Like. Like, we never. [00:53:59] Speaker C: Because it's two movies per person, is, like, the most they've done. Like, Millie, Bobby Brown was two movies, but, like, Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor Johnson were only one. So I feel the same way. I feel like if you survive Pat, if you survive into a second movie, like, not just if you survive the events of the movie, but if you get, like, into a second monsterverse movie, I feel like that's it for you. [00:54:21] Speaker A: No more Bernie, which is sad for me. [00:54:27] Speaker B: Popped up in the show Monarch. I would honestly. And I'd be like, oh, it'd be cool to see him. Like, what is he doing? Or is he working for Monarch now? Or. [00:54:35] Speaker C: Yeah, like, I love that idea that, like, we keep the cast in the movie shuffling along, and then they can kind of go to the tv show, but then from a business point of view, as an actor, do you really want to go from being, like, the starring face on, like, a $500 million movie, and then it's like, why don't you come to season four of Monarch instead of being in the next movie? [00:54:55] Speaker B: So I'm going to argue, yes. Because I've heard a lot of stars say that it's actually more consistent to be on a television show than it is to be in a movie because it's longer timeframe. Like, you're in one spot. [00:55:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:55:06] Speaker A: And I think if they did something juicy with his character, if they gave him something or anybody even that, you know, was in the movie, something worth playing, I think it's something that could kind of be interesting for the actor. And I think, you know, I don't want to say, like, Emmy consideration and all of that, but, you know, that's. That's the season we're in right now, I think. [00:55:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:29] Speaker C: Like, if the story is interesting, if the pay is good, like, you know. [00:55:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:34] Speaker C: If they're not offering half of what you were making on a movie and you're going to do so much more with their character, then, yeah, then you're right. Then it would be appealing. But I would really love to see Monarch continue. I feel like Monarch can really be, like, the agents of S H I E l D for the monsterverse, but I feel like agents of S H I E l D fell into the trap of trying to set things up for the movies. If Monarch just focuses on picking up the pieces and then maybe just doing cameos or something in the movies, like, I don't need the Randa kids to be the starring character in a movie. I don't want that. Actually, I'd love it if they popped up, but I don't want them to be, you know, like, running around the hollow Earth with Kong 100%. [00:56:15] Speaker B: I was thinking the same thing of, like, I think that's another way that you keep, like, actors interested in the films. It's like, if you give them this really in depth television show season, but then, like, also, I would be more likely, if I was an actor, to be like, oh, you want me to do this season? And then you also want me to pop up for maybe, like, five minutes in this film to kind of, like. Like, I would be more inclined to maybe do that knowing that, like, you're not just using me for five minutes. You're like, it's all part of a bigger picture. But I also get this piece right here of this picture. You know, people can't see me doing my hand holding. I'm holding a piece of the picture here, people. [00:56:52] Speaker A: All right. And I think, you know, we're getting pretty close on time. So is there anything else that you guys want to share about monarch or the monsterverse or, you know, giant. Giant titans fighting each other with. With robot arms? [00:57:07] Speaker B: My thing about this is that we actually don't know what's coming next. Right. They have not announced what the next piece of this puzzle is. Is that correct? [00:57:16] Speaker A: I don't think so. [00:57:18] Speaker B: I'm looking kind of. It kind of looks like they have ideas, but there's not really any kind of. We have a number of ideas for more movies, and it's kind of left at that. So I think this is really interesting, because I feel like where we're left with both monarch and with Godzilla, Kong, the new empire, there's so much that could potentially go on here. I think, like, there is a reality where there could be a Kong film now in Hollow Earth with all the, you know, the other apes and stuff. Uday won't be there, but that's okay. But also, you know, like, you could start to have branching out again, and I I think it'd be interesting to kind of see how that goes, especially because everybody wants the cinematic universe. And I feel like if you keep smashing these two creatures together, it's gonna get really tiring really quickly. But if you do, you know, kind of, like, what is that new Winnie the pooh blood and Hunter universe? Yeah, they have a whole universe coming out now. [00:58:10] Speaker A: There's Bambi, too. Is Bambi, like, in that same world? [00:58:13] Speaker B: Tinkerbell and all. All these things. Like, you pull these pieces, like, together, separately, bring them together. I think there is a balance. I think that that's what I liked about Marvel is that, like, they can go off and they can do things, and, like Uday said, not everybody is by themselves anymore, but, like, we've had two major titans, and we keep shoving them together. Time to let these creatures breathe by themselves and bring new titans in that maybe they can go on adventures with. [00:58:37] Speaker A: So you're gonna watch a month, a Mothra solo movie. That's what I'm getting from your conversation. [00:58:43] Speaker B: I love Mothra. Let's do it. [00:58:47] Speaker C: I mean, yeah, maybe I'd watch a Mothra solo movie. I do think that, yeah, they can't just keep putting Godzilla and Kong together. Like, we need something else, because I also feel like people have been expecting the monsterverse to fall flat on its face ever since King of the monsters underperformed. Because I remember the narrative when King of the monsters came out. Is that, like, oh, it's over. How did you flop that? Badly. But then Godzilla versus Kong had a surprisingly strong performance during, like, a very bad time at the box office, and then this movie, like, doubled its expectations. I think it's on track to become the highest grossing monsterverse movie. Yeah. And so now that you've had that success and you've righted the ship, like, now, let's not play it too safe. Like, maybe the next step isn't to do a Mothra solo movie, but it's to do a Godzilla and Mothra movie instead of a Godzilla and Kong movie. And then if that's a success, then you can try a Mothra solo movie or a Mothra Apple tv series, you know? So there's a lot you could do. And I also think, like, we didn't really talk about what we think of Monarch as an organization, and that's a question I'm really interested in. Cause I've always wondered about them, and it was just so interesting to me that they were portrayed as, like, a bad. Not a bad thing, but as, like, not really a good thing. And, like, kind of villainous in the show, but yet in the new Empire, it's, like, monarch are the good guys. So, obviously, the show was set many years before the new Empire, and there is stuff that changed in that world. But I'm really interested in seeing, like, those two sides of Monarch, and I didn't really think Monarch was that interesting anymore. Like, I thought it was interesting in the first few movies. Then I thought it just became generic. But I am interested in it again after the show, so I really want to see where they take everything, and I really want to see Monarch, the show continue to complement the movies this well, because I don't think I've been this hyped up about a franchise in a long time. [01:01:02] Speaker A: Oh, well, I think that might be a wonderful place to end our little monsterverse chat. Thank you again for listening, as always, and gentlemen. Who are you? Which one of you is the real agent Argyle? Where can people find you? [01:01:18] Speaker B: Hi. My name is Agent Argyle. I mean, my name is Brian, and you can find me on Cosmic Circus, and, of course, you find me on Twitter at be kitson 301 and all the other social medias. I'm trying to build my Instagram, too, so trying to be more on top of those things for all of the lovely people that we support and we write for and stuff. [01:01:40] Speaker A: So are you on threads, Brian? [01:01:42] Speaker B: I deleted threads. Finally. I couldn't do it. But now I keep getting the. I keep getting the little things on Instagram of, like, things. I go to click it, and then take me to? Like, you should download threads. And I was like, oh, this is the trap. No, no, I gave up on threads. Sorry, sorry, couldn't do it. I'm still on Twitter, though. [01:02:01] Speaker C: I'm not on threads either. But I'm uday, and you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and the cosmic circus at golden ninja 3000. And, yeah, not threads. [01:02:13] Speaker A: And I'm Mila Ruby, and you can find me at Tula and writes on the website formerly known as Twitter. And you can, of course, find all of our writing and podcasts and [email protected]. And I hope you have a wonderful day. [01:02:26] Speaker B: Bye, everybody.