Monarch Season 2: Kurt Russell to officially reprise his role as Lee Shaw in the new chapter of the Apple TV series

Kurt Russell is coming back as Lee Shaw for Season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV+.

Russell stole the show last time we saw him, and then his character went out with a sacrifice at the end of Season 1. Since then, fandom has been buzzing about whether he is actually gone.

If you missed it, Lee Shaw is an ex-Army guy all tangled up in Monarch’s secret shenanigans. Notably, Kurt Russell and his real-life son, Wyatt Russell, both play Shaw at different ages.

Kurt’s version of Shaw kind of glues the whole show together since he is the thread between all the monsters and the human drama. He has been right in the middle of the Godzilla and Titans chaos, so his return is definitely not just a cameo.

The Season 1 finale left people hanging after Lee Shaw was pulled into Hollow Earth. Nobody knows if he is even alive, but the whole crew showed up on Skull Island. Now that Season 1 is done, everyone is itching for more, but you probably have to wait a while.

Filming for Season 2 was wrapped in early 2025, but post-production is dragging things out. According to the industry reports, we might not see new episodes till late 2025 or 2026.

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Kurt Russell to officially reprise his role as Lee Shaw in Monarch Season 2

Apple TV+ has announced that Kurt Russell is back as old man Lee Shaw. Kurt himself pretty much winked at the camera, playfully saying:

“You ain’t getting rid of me that easy.”

Looks like he knows that fans are clinging to Shaw and his whole tough-guy-with-feelings vibe.

Lee Shaw has been the heart of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. He is not just some grizzled hero. Like, you never really know if he is about to give you life advice or punch a Titan in the face. Throw in the double-casting with Kurt and Wyatt Russell playing Shaw at different ages, and you get this sprawling story from Shaw’s rookie days in the ‘50s, wrestling with those freaky Titans, to present-day havoc with Monarch’s shady secrets.

And let’s not forget, he literally dived into Hollow Earth at the end of Season 1. Most people would call that a series exit, but Shaw apparently has unfinished business.

With Russell back, you know we are in for more Hollow Earth things and some answers to all the stuff they left hanging last season. What did Shaw find down there? Is he even the same person after all that? He might be hiding a few more skeletons in the closet, plus some psychological scars for good measure.

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Monarch Season 1 storyline and expectations for Season 2

In Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1, you have Cate and Kentaro, a brother-sister duo chasing after their dad Hiroshi’s links to Monarch.

Monarch is basically this super-secret group poking around, trying to keep tabs on giant monsters like Godzilla and Kong. The deeper they dig, the messier it gets with old secrets, timelines jumping all over the place from the ‘50s up to now, and a bunch of shady cover-ups.

And then there is Bill Randa, this mad genius/monster scientist, who jump-started explorations into Titan phenomena.

Then, in the Season finale, you have Godzilla throwing down with the Ion Dragon, all these plot twists in Hollow Earth, and Keiko Randa strolling back in after everyone thought she was lost for decades. Turns out APEX (familiar shady folks from the Monsterverse movies) rescued Keiko, May, and Cate, then dumped them on Skull Island.

Now everybody has been stuck there for two years, so who even knows where their heads are at? Allegiances? Motivations? Probably all scrambled, because of the realities of Skull Island.

Season 2 is about to elevate the stakes, especially with everything Shaw must have uncovered down in Hollow Earth. There is no way he is getting out of that mess easily. Meanwhile, Kong is finally getting more screen time now that everyone is on Skull Island.

Plus, don’t sleep on APEX, since they are still scheming and poking around with Titan brains, and you just know that is going to blow up in everyone’s face.

Viewers can expect backstabbing, monster fights, and Monarch’s dirty laundry finally getting aired out. Keiko is trying to figure out how to live in the 21st century, Cate and Kentaro are still knee-deep in family drama, and Shaw has got unfinished business that is bound to get more tangled.

The emotional chaos is just getting started, and there is no telling what is about to crawl out of the woodwork next.