Legendary‘s next monster mash just landed a new human star. Kaitlyn Dever, who will take center stage in the upcoming second season of The Last of Us, will star in the upcoming sequel to last year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Deadline reports that the details of Dever‘s character in the new MonsterVerse film are being kept under wraps for now.
Dever is a rising star right now: after prominent roles in Justified and Last Man Standing, she starred in Olivia Wilde‘s high school comedy Booksmart and the Hulu alien invasion thriller No One Will Save You. She can next be seen as a fraudulent wellness influencer in Netflix‘s true-crime miniseries Apple Cider Vinegar, and will star as Abby, whose actions will likely set the internet ablaze, in the second season of HBO‘s acclaimed post-apocalyptic survival thriller The Last of Us. She is the first actor to be cast in the as-yet untitled MonsterVerse film (aside from Mr. Kong and Mr. Zilla, of course), which will be directed by Grant Sputore (I Am Mother) and penned by David Callahan (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse). It is set to be released on March 26, 2027.
What Is the MonsterVerse?
The MonsterVerse is the shared cinematic universe of Legendary Entertainment‘s giant-monster films, linked via the shadowy monster-monitoring organization Monarch. They kicked the universe off with Godzilla in 2014, which introduced the core concept of giant, prehistoric monsters emerging from deep within the Earth, and proved to be a solid American showing for Toho‘s biggest star. It was followed by 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, a 1970s-set period piece that reintroduced America’s premier giant ape to a new generation of audiences. Godzilla returned in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which showcased the big guy alongside an all-star trio of fellow kaiju in the form of Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidora. East met West in 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, which pitted the two against each other for the first time since 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. The most recent installment of the franchise was last year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which saw the two longtime foes team up to battle an evil ape, the Skar King, in the Hollow Earth.
The MonsterVerse has also rampaged on to the small screen. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters debuted its first season on Apple TV+ in 2023; it follows the monster-hunting organization across the decades of its existence. A second season, which will star Prey‘s Amber Midthunder, is in the works.
Kaitlyn Dever will star in the next installment of the MonsterVerse, which is set to be released on March 26, 2027.
via Collider