Kurt Russell & Wyatt Russell Tease How 'Monarch’s Massive Twist Changes Everything

Published Apr 11, 2026, 8:02 AM EDT

As the finale draws closer for Apple TV's Titan sci-fi Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Collider's Steve Weintraub spoke with stars Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell about Episode 7, and what their conversation through time means for the future of the series.

In addition to Kurt and Wyatt, Monarch stars Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Anders Holm, Kiersey Clemons, and introduces Amber Midthunder and Cliff Curtis. In Episode 7, after using the "Titan phone" in the previous episode, Shaw finds himself face-to-face with the past in a moment Kurt tells us is "very important," and a "key to the reality that they are going to experience" in future episodes.

Check out the spoiler half of the conversation with Kurt and Wyatt in the video above or the transcript below, where they explain how that time-traveling encounter represents a major turning point for the show, as well as how that sequence came to be. Don't miss the first half of this interview, where Wyatt Russell shares exciting details for Lee Shaw's upcoming spin-off series.

Episode 7 Holds the "Key" to The Show's New Reality

It's a crucial moment that was championed by Kurt and Wyatt Russell.

I wanted to touch on Episode 7, which is some great stuff with you guys specifically. You're talking to yourself in the past, and I think it's something that everyone can relate to. “What if I could change something?” Can you talk about filming that stuff? Because it's really great stuff between the two of you. And how did you discuss the rules of time travel? Because there's that thing where you get hurt and the scar.

KURT RUSSELL: That moment is very important, and we discussed this a lot. [Episode] 7 for me was like, I wanted that. Before we started to do the first season, we started talking about different things, and this and that, and my draw to it was that we were going to play the same character, and Wyatt and I were going to get a chance to work together. So, realizing that we're playing the same character, there’s going to be a lot of times when we're not working together, so how do we work together? We started talking about that, and then we started talking about the possibilities. We actually shot something in Season 1 where we came together, and it was so shockingly revealing that they said, “It just changes the whole dynamic of this. We can't do it.” I said, “I see what you're saying.”

The second season came along. “Okay, we're going to do this again.” We talked about it a lot before we said, “Yeah, we're on.” And that was number one: Let's make that happen in some kind of way. We started talking about the possibilities of it and whatnot, and [Episode] 7 is what you saw. It’s been worked on a lot. We worked a lot. I thought that what came out of the opportunity of the screenplay that it suggested was very strong. And I think that the most I can say to it is that I don't think that's done yet. I think that's a key. That's a key to the reality that they are going to experience that is going to help them figure out how to deal with these monsters.

Can you talk about what you're playing emotionally in that when you are seeing her, and you're so close to getting what you've wanted, and you're being pulled back?

KURT RUSSELL: By yourself.

WYATT RUSSELL: They had so much history up to that point, and he was in such a bad state, that all of those feelings are clouded by your negative state. You've had a moment of clarity, when he was really, really thinking about going to her in that moment, of truly, for the first time, making the right decision, in a way, by letting her go. You are not interfering with things that, when you come out, are going to be nothing like you were thinking that they were going to be when you're down there.

KURT RUSSELL: And what that all depended on was, “Is this real or am I making this up? Is this the moment where I buy into reality?” We talked about that transitional moment that was tantamount to making that whole thing of great value. And I think that's the coolest part of that scene, which is watching that character finally say, “I guess I have to go in that direction.”

You can watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 on Apple TV+ now. New episodes are released every Friday, with the season finale airing on May 1.