Apple TV’s Hit Sci-Fi Series That Started A Shared Universe Returns To Promising Rotten Tomatoes Score

2 weeks ago 13

Published Feb 24, 2026, 12:04 PM EST

Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Apple TV's hit sci-fi series that began a shared universe is faring well with critics for season 2.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 has debuted with a lower, yet promising, Rotten Tomatoes score compared to when the show began. Monarch season 2 takes the show's core characters to Skull Island, where Apex Cybernetics is conducting research, as the mysterious Titan X poses a major threat to the world.

Now, Rotten Tomatoes reports that Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 is getting positive reviews, but not as many as season 1. As of writing, season 2 sits at 70% based on 10 reviews. This score is down from season 1, which holds a Certified Fresh 87% from critics based on 87 reviews.

According to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 reviews, the show offers a beefed-up new story complete with bigger action sequences, better CGI, and a number of memorable moments of kaiju action. The cinematic scale of the season earns high marks, with the threat of Titan X and what its arrival entails being of core note.

However, critics have also pointed out some debilitating flaws in the writing. This mostly comes from the characters in Monarch clashing with each other for reasons often viewed as overdramatized. The show also draws focus toward setup for a potential season 3, especially in its slowed-down back half, that makes it less engaging.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the first TV show in the Monsterverse, and one of multiple planned to arrive on Apple TV in the coming years. This includes a yet-to-be-named prequel series about young Lee Shaw, played by Wyatt Russell, investigating a threatening Titan during the Cold War. Other TV shows are also anticipated to arrive in the coming years.

It's not the only Monsterverse project that will be coming out soon, either. Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, the sixth movie in the franchise, will arrive in theaters on March 26, 2027. While it's unclear if Monarch season 2 will have direct ties to it, the show will seemingly offer plenty of Titan action, even if it's bogged down by interpersonal drama.

Although Monarch: Legacy of Monsters doesn't have as high a Rotten Tomatoes score as season 1, the majority of reviews are still positive. Since the action and CGI appear to be its biggest strengths, the show appears destined to deliver on everything that makes the Monsterverse so exciting.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season 2 premieres Friday, February 27 on Apple TV.