In May of 2024, we got the latest entry in the Planet of the Apes movies, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. This is the fourth film in the “new-era” of Apes movies, and the first to not feature Caesar, the main character from the first three modern ones.
Those are Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes. So what happened to Will Rodman from the first one?
A quick refresher: Will Rodman (James Franco) was a pharmacist/chemist from Yale who worked at Gen-Sys Laboratories. Like Genesis from the Bible. Symbolism! He creates an experimental Alzheimer’s drug called ALZ-112. He’s also made very human by the fact that his father has the disease and Will wants to save him.
A chimpanzee named Caesar is exposed to the drug in the womb and comes out way too smart. He sneaks the drug to others and wham bam here comes the ape clan. Still, Will is essentially Caesar’s father and they have a strong bond. However, a virus is unleashed on the earth at the end of the film and it decimates something like 90 percent of the population. We don’t see what happens to Will, but there are hints. He’s only kind of mentioned in the next movie when Caesar goes back to Will’s home.
The most popular theory is that Will and his girlfriend Caroline died from the virus, which is supported by a a FEMA notice on the door of his house stating that two people have died inside.
That’s good enough for us, so put Will Rodham on the casualties list.