Who is John Goodman's Bill Randa in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters?

Although we see a new cast taking up the mantle, including Kurt and Wyatt Russell playing older and younger versions of the same character, army officer Lee Shaw, there are little references to the past of the MonsterVerse.

The most prominent one comes in the first episode, with the appearance of MonsterVerse legend John Goodman as Bill Randa.

Here's everything you need to know!

Who is Bill Randa in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters?

Bill Randa first appeared in 2017's Kong: Skull Island. He initially believes that Godzilla is an abomination and should be eliminated, before starting to see similarities between the Titan and humanity.

At the end of the film, Randa is killed by a Skullcrawler, but his camera continues to operate - a key detail that leads into the first episode of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.

Randa appears at the beginning of the episode, speaking to his camera, expressing his regret about the mistakes he made and saying he hopes he can leave behind a legacy for the future.

Showrunners Chris Black and Matt Fraction exclusively opened up to RadioTimes.com, with Fraction explaining: "We were thrilled to get John Goodman in the show. I think it was Legendary, saying it would be great to have John Goodman.

"I was like, yeah, right, we’ll get John Goodman. And he was lovely and delightful to have, and we were thrilled to have him.

"It is that connective tissue that puts our show and it was a bit of a dance - how do we tell our own story? How do we find our own lane, that isn't beholden to the larger canonical mythology, but at the same time works within it?

"You remind the audience that you, even though you're trying to tell a smaller, more focused, character driven story, that you are part of this bigger universe that we're such fans of."

Director Matt Shakman added: "John Goodman, another legend I've always wanted to work with, and he's brilliant and his work on Skull Island is fantastic. That character is amazing. So being able to spend some time with him as a filmmaker was really something that I'll treasure.

"And it's very important, you know, the show is all about legacy. It's about family legacy. It's about other sorts of legacy, corporate legacy, traumatic legacy, and so the opening of the first episode is very much setting that in motion, and it's setting it in motion on a couple of different levels."

Who is actor John Goodman?

John Goodman is known for his work with the Coen Brothers on movies like Raising Arizona Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

He's also appeared in films like Blues Brothers, 10 Cloverfield Lane, Evan Almighty and The Artist, as well as voice acting in the likes of Monsters Inc.

On TV, he's known for his role as Dan Conner in Roseanne, as well as for appearances in series like Damages and The Righteous Gemstones.

During his career, he's received accolades like a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is available to stream on Apple TV+ - sign up to Apple TV+ now. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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