Netflix’s Skull Island Brings Animation to King Kong & Legendary’s Monsterverse

It may not seem like it because Marvel has set up a precedent of a cinematic universe dropping a billion movies and TV shows in a year, but Legendary’s Monsterverse is very alive and kicking and its first stab at both a TV series and animation is hitting Netflix soon. Skull Island, the new animated series taking place on the island of monsters where King Kong lives, has dropped its first Netflix teaser trailer, and it’s basically just a bunch of monsters killing humans.

The teaser doesn’t give much in the way of plot but definitely gives us a lot in the way of giant animals attacking humans, including our first look at anime-style King Kong. The show’s story evidently follows a group of kind-hearted explorers who rescue a girl named Annie (Mae Whitman) from the sea, only to find themselves stranded on Skull Island thanks to their kindness. There they must survive as the land that time forgot tries to kill them all off. It seems very in line with the film Kong: Skull Island, though it’s not clear just when the series takes place in the timeline of the Monsterverse. Given the fact that Skull Island was pretty locked down by Monarch in the films, this storyline may play out in a time before it was officially discovered.

The series heralds from the animation studio Powerhouse Animation, which has already had success with Netflix on their Castlevania animated series. It features a strong cast of voice actors as well, including Darren Barnett (Never Have I Ever, Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles) as Mike, Benjamin Bratt (Poker Face, Coco) as Cap, and Betty Gilpin (Mrs. Davis, Glow) as Irene. The is created, written, and executive-produced by Brian Duffield (Cocaine Bear, Love and Monsters), with Jacob Robinson, Brad Graeber, Jen Chambers, and Thomas Tull also serving as executive producers, and it is part of Netflix’s partnership with Legendary that will also see a Tomb Raider anime developed for the streamer.

Of course, a cinematic universe doesn’t thrive on one animated series alone. Legendary already dropped a teaser for the next film in the franchise, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and a new live-action Monsterverse series is coming to Apple TV+. And just in case you can’t get enough of King Kong, don’t forget that Disney and James Wan have their own take on the giant ape coming as well.