https://ift.tt/2Ml9ndM - youtube channel How Godzilla's Monarch Can Be Better Than Marvel's SHIELD https://ift.tt/2PyntaD August 24, 2018 at 01:08AM 
Godzilla: King of the Monsters can make Monarch better than Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. One of the biggest similarities between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Legendary's MonsterVerse is the presence of a government agency with limitless resources overseeing the special beings that exist in their respective universes. In the MCU, the superheroes, villains, gods, and aliens were monitored by S.H.I.E.L.D. while the MonsterVerse's Titans are tracked by Monarch. Though they appear to be similar on the surface, the two organizations are actually quite different, and that gives the MonsterVerse a chance to improve upon the mistakes Marvel made with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Both Monarch and S.H.I.E.L.D. were woven into the fabric of their universes from the start. The global spy network once run by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) debuted in Iron Man, with Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) as its main representative, and hinted at the greater superhero universe yet to come. When Legendary Pictures plotted out their MonsterVerse, Marvel and S.H.I.E.L.D. were clearly the models for Monarch, which operated so similarly to S.H.I.E.L.D. in Godzilla 2014 that fans could be forgiven for wondering if the name 'Monarch" was also a hard-to-remember acronym. They even have similar origins: both agencies were founded after World War II and operated in secret for decades, stockpiling information about the special beings in their midst.
Related: Godzilla 2's Monarch Website Has An Important Kong: Skull Island Connection
Of course, the MonsterVerse is relatively much younger than the MCU. 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters is only the third film in the series while Marvel has 20 films under their belt, with three more dropping next year. However, as the MCU has evolved, it outgrew S.H.I.E.L.D. and its usefulness years ago. Monarch, however, is integral to the MonsterVerse and its importance is poised to increase.
- This Page: The Differences Between Monarch And S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Page 2: How Monarch Can Be Better
How Monarch Is Different To S.H.I.E.L.D.
Both Monarch and S.H.I.E.L.D. were designed to be the glue of their respective shared universes. As superheroes proliferated in the MCU, S.H.I.E.L.D. was there to unite them and also provide necessary exposition, both to the characters and to the fans watching. Monarch did the same in Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island when a world that ostensibly resembled our reality was suddenly faced with the existence of giant monsters that rose from beneath the Earth and rampaged across major cities like Honolulu and San Francisco. Monarch provided background on the beasts which were originally designated M.U.T.O.s - massive unidentified terrestrial organisms - and introduced the key concepts like the "Hollow Earth Theory" that explained where the monsters come from.
However, unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., which was dissolved in the MCU movies after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Monarch's importance in the MonsterVerse is only increasing. Monarch behaved like S.H.I.E.L.D. in Godzilla; they locked down the Janjira nuclear plant and surrounding town during the M.U.T.O. incident and they seem to have broad powers over the U.S. Military. The key difference is that the presence of the monsters on Earth makes Monarch a vital entity since all of the known info about the secret locations, powers, and histories of the Titans belong to Monarch. When Godzilla clashes with Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah in King of the Monsters, Monarch is the primary line of defense for humans at the mercy of the kaiju. Indeed, all of the human interest in the film resides in Monarch and the characters that comprise it.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Was (And Is) Ill-Defined
S.H.I.E.L.D. as a concept is a relic of the early years of the MCU. It was important as the bricks of the universe was being laid down, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was also strange and poorly defined at the start. In Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. and its acronym - the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division - were treated as a joke that Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) could keep putting off meeting with. As Phase 1 continued, they often operated like Men in Black antagonists to the heroes, like when they stole the research and equipment of Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) after Thor (Chris Hemsworth) first arrived on Earth or when they secretly planted Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as a spy in Stark Industries.
Related: Agents of SHIELD Has Rewritten The History Of The MCU
Sure, fans were invited to trust Nick Fury - with the implication that since Fury is ultimately noble and dedicated to safeguarding the world, and therefore so is S.H.I.E.L.D. - the agency was secretive, deceitful, and manipulative. Even Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) didn't entirely trust S.H.I.E.L.D. while he worked for them, and it turns out he was right to be suspicious since S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra since its inception. On television, S.H.I.E.L.D received a complex history that was laid out over the many seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter, although the movies have mostly ignored both series. Going by what fans saw in the movies, despite giving us Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't really something to root for.
Ultimately, the point of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MCU was to be the engine that unites the Avengers. As the MCU movies marched on, however, S.H.I.E.L.D. proved to be a problematic concept; once the Avengers assembled, it had achieved its true purpose and was no longer truly necessary, hence why it was eliminated from the movies in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. S.H.I.E.L.D. remnants have been seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Nick Fury's back in the spy game as of Avengers: Infinity War, but in terms of impact Secretary of State Ross (William Hurt) has replaced them as the bureaucratic antagonists.
Monarch Has A Clear Purpose
Monarch's mission statement is simply more clear than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ever was: Monarch stands for "Discovery and Defense in a Time of Monsters". Ever since the first known sighting of the Titans known as Godzilla in 1946, Monarch has been compiling data on the enormous kaiju and safeguarding the public from the truth about the monsters in their midst.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters looks to make Monarch even more vital to the events of the MonsterVerse. According to what's known about the plot of Godzilla 2, Monarch is the key to the very survival of the human race. With the planet undergoing a mass extinction, the information Monarch has about the Titans drives the plot about releasing the giant monsters to fight each other; specifically, it's believed Godzilla will need the help of Rodan and Mothra to defeat the living extinction-level event that is King Ghidorah.
Related: Godzilla 2's Plot May Be Smarter Than The Trailer Suggested
Throughout the two MonsterVerse films seen so far, Godzilla (which was set in 2014) and Kong: Skull Island (set in 1973), Monarch has been consistent in the way it has been presented. From the footage seen and what is known about Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Monarch remains the same group that it was in Godzilla, while fans are poised to learn even more about the group's inner workings. Of course, consistency is easier to maintain over only three films that have been plotted with a more direct purpose than the first Phase of MCU movies were, but this indicates the brain trust at Legendary has learned important lessons to not repeat Marvel's early missteps with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Monarch Puts The Monsters First
Of course, for all the greater meaning, Monarch is primarily a story device to explain and enhance the main event players of the MonsterVerse: Godzilla and the Titans. Monarch enables the MonsterVerse's true calling card, succinctly summed up by Dr. Ishiro Serizawa's catchphrase: "Let them fight!"
However, while S.H.I.E.L.D. was a similar device to tie together the MCU and its heroes, fan interest was solidly with the Avengers and not the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Though Godzilla fighting Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah is similarly what fans are coming to King of the Monsters to see, they will hopefully also get caught up in the human story involving Monarch, as Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) is kidnapped by a mysterious group that wants to unleash all of the Titans to ostensibly save the world.
While S.H.I.E.L.D. had Nick Fury as a central figure, Marvel wrapped much of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s identity in Sam Jackson's sheer charisma. Monarch's main figureheads, Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) don't command fans' immediate attention the way Fury does, but Monarch has since bolstered their ranks with several charismatic actors. In Kong: Skull Island, Monarch was led by William Randa (John Goodman), and they recruited Captain James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) by the end of the film. Godzilla King of the Monsters adds Emma Russell, her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), and the mysterious character portrayed by Charles Dance, who may be the film's human villain. This is a brilliant cast of human characters that make Monarch much more compelling, and a better Monarch will only enhance the quality of Godzilla: King of the Monsters and 2020's Godzilla Vs. Kong.
Next: Godzilla 2 Trailer, Cast, Every Update You Need To Know
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