Godzilla’s reign as the mightiest of all atomic-age mutants continues with the new AppleTV+ series “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.”

But how do you do Godzilla, last seen in a $200 million 2019 feature, on a TV budget?

“There’s a couple of approaches to that question,” Chris Black, the series’ showrunner said in a Zoom interview.  “One is we were given a substantial amount of resources that’s very generous for TV.

“Early on Apple recognized and Legendary Pictures recognized that what we couldn’t do was a cheap TV version of their movies. This had to be achieved at a quality level that visually approached what the films were. They were generous with resources and we got an A-level team of people who consistently busted their tails and brought their game every day and made the show look spectacular.

“Part 2 of that is we knew we shouldn’t try to compete with features and try to scale it down for television. What we had to do was build this as a sustaining television series from the ground up and create a story about a family trying to solve a mystery about their father that leads them on this adventure that brings them into contact with the monster.”

“Our one commandment as we were telling the story,” said Matt Fraction who co-developed and co-executive produces with Black, “is this could very easily spiral out and become about the monster mythology and all that stuff – and it was always no.”

The focus, Fraction said, is “personal. These two kids chasing down the mystery of the legacy and the location of their father.

“Ultimately learning that this is all kind of one story that’s tied together. But first and foremost, it was about people. We wanted you to care about who they were, where they were going, what they were learning and how they’re feeling.

“Because then you really care that they whether or not they’re going to survive. Our challenge was keeping our eye on that.

“Then figuring out, ‘What’s the worst possible moment for a great big set piece that complicates their dream right when they were about to get what they want?’”

Added Black, “Even though Matt and I are both fans of the movies of the franchise of Godzilla going way back, we wanted to see monsters. And we know the fans want to see monsters.

“But we also knew — and my personal rule – was, ‘It can’t be a monster series.’ The worst version of this would be a sucky monster show.”

The first 2 episodes of “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” stream on  AppleTV+ on Nov. 17