The Correct Order To Watch The MonsterVerse Franchise

We are in a golden age of Godzilla and kaiju cinema. No matter your level of familiarity with the iconic Toho character, and no matter what aspect of the mythos you like, there is something for everyone. There's the acclaimed, Oscar-nominated masterpiece "Godzilla Minus One" that brings the monster back to basics. There's the thrilling TV show which puts a focus on its human characters, and, of course, there's also a bonkers series of blockbuster movies.

After the disastrous Roland Emmerich film from 1998, it wasn't until 2014 that Hollywood figured out how to make a big budget "Godzilla" movie work. Since then, the MonsterVerse has turned into one of the better blockbuster franchises today. These movies mix the silliness of the best Toho kaiju movies with proper continuity and world-building. The result is that the MonsterVerse has grown to be an expansive franchise with dozens of characters and kaiju co-existing in a world that should honestly be rather post-apocalyptic after so much destruction. 

But the franchise can occasionally be convoluted. Given that there is no clear naming convention for the MonsterVerse, and with the recent addition of a TV spin-off prequel, it can be confusing for someone completely new to the franchise to know where to begin. This is especially true if all you know is that there are 33 "Godzilla" movies.

That's where we come in. Here is your guide to how to best experience the MonsterVerse.

Unlike, say, the "John Wick" franchise, which has titles that make it very clear which order to watch things, the MonsterVerse movies don't exactly have the easiest titles to figure out. Still, the correct way to watch the MonsterVerse titles is to go by release date — with one key exception.

• Godzilla (2014)
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023)
• Kong: Skull Island (2017)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
• Godzilla vs Kong (2021)
• Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

The first "Godzilla" introduces us to a world very much like ours, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary — but then everything changes when Godzilla attacks. We meet the titular monster, but are also swept up in the idea of Titans (other giant creatures), and of a secret organization named Monarch that has been monitoring these monsters for decades. 

The Apple TV+ series "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" is partially set in the aftermath of Godzilla's 2014 destruction, and partially set in the past as it explains the origins of Monarch and shows how the group attempts to prevent another kaiju attack. 

Even though "Kong: Skull Island" technically takes place in the 1970s, decades before Godzilla's big attack, we still think it makes sense to watch it third; the film features an excursion to the mysterious Skull Island and a clash with its protector, King Kong.

Set a few years after "Godzilla," "King of the Monsters" is essentially an all-out brawl between a dozen titans. The movie finally brings some of Toho's biggest icons to the screen, including Mothra. 

Then, humanity tries to fight back but ends up creating an even bigger threat with Mechagodzilla in "Godzilla vs Kong," which pits the two main monsters against each other. 

Now, this year, we're getting "Godzilla x Kong," the buddy-cop kaiju movie we've always needed.

There is a simple reason why you should watch the MonsterVerse in this order rather than chronological: To track the franchise's world-building progression. The 2014 "Godzilla" does a great job of setting up this universe and hinting at the secret history of kaiju and Monarch, basically spooling out information at the same pace as the characters are learning about them. If you watch "Kong: Skull Island" first, it would take away from that impact of "Godzilla." Plus, this is mostly a Godzilla-centric franchise, so it's only right he be the star that kickstarts your experience with this whole undertaking. 

The MonsterVerse movies aren't exactly interested in the minutiae of how day-to-day life is impacted by the kaiju, but our recommended order does show the increased activity of the giant monsters that are slowly destroying every major monument across the world. When it comes to "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters," the TV show does a great job of expanding the backstory of Monarch — which "Kong: Skull Island" touches on — and adding both context to the larger world of the MonsterVerse and human faces to this world. Rather than watching it last, as it was released, slotting that in earlier means understanding the importance of Monarch in the larger franchise, while also setting up "Skull Island"  and even teasing events from later in the franchise.