Kurt Russell is making his return to TV with Apple's upcoming Godzilla series, starring with his son, Wyatt Russell. Kurt is the legendary Hollywood star of films like Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Tombstone, Stargate, and countless others. Wyatt has also begun forging his own career in Hollywood, starring in projects like Cold in July, Everybody Wants Some!!, Overlord, Under The Banner of Heaven, and most recently as John Walker/U.S. Agent in Marvel's Disney+ series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Wyatt has been appearing in Kurt's films as early as 1987's Overboard and played a younger version of his father in 1998's Soldier.
Legendary's MonsterVerse franchise has taken off in recent years, having relaunched to great success with 2014's Godzilla. That was later followed by 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, which was a massive hit for Legendary Pictures, WB, and HBO Max. Currently, a Godzilla vs. Kong sequel is in the works, as well as an animated series for Skull Island to debut on Netflix. Additionally, there is Apple's Godzilla series, which has already added those like Kiersey Clemons and Anna Sawai to its cast. WandaVision's Matt Shakman will direct the first two episodes.
Now Apple has announced that both Kurt and Wyatt Russell have joined the Godzilla cast. Their specific roles have not been revealed as of yet. The Godzilla series "will explore one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch." Previously announced stars for the series also include Ren Watabe, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski.
The series will take place after the events of 2014's Godzilla as humanity deals with the "shocking new reality that monsters are real", making it a bit of a prequel series in that sense. However, the exact timeline has yet to be confirmed. It's unclear how closely the events of the show will tie into the Monsterverse films, be it characters or events, but it does take place within the same universe, meaning there's plenty of potential to see familiar faces (and kaiju) along the way. Godzilla's owners, Toho Co. Ltd. will also serve as executive producers on the series, continuing their long tradition of involvement in the property that is licensed to Legendary.
While details are still forthcoming in terms of how closely Kurt and Wyatt Russell will be working together on the Godzilla series, the synopsis about a "family's journey" makes it sound like they may well be playing father and son in the series, which would be cool. Wyatt has been building a strong career of both indie and big-budget fare, following in his father's footsteps in terms of a diverse, rounded career. Having both actors team up will be a sight to see, especially now that Wyatt has really built up his status as an actor. Having both Kurt and Wyatt Russell taking on monsters in a big-budget Godzilla series feels like a wholesome fit for the duo, as it's something the elder Russell has been doing his whole career.
Source: Apple