Warning: The following article contains minor spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the newest chapter in 20th Century Studios’ successful reboot of the Planet of the Apes film franchise. But since Caesar (Andy Serkis) is not the protagonist of the new movie, will the new trilogy follow his son?
The Planet of the Apes trilogy, which began with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, follows Caesar as he becomes one of the first superintelligent apes. The trilogy explores Caesar’s life as he teaches other apes how to communicate and work together, building a home for them on the planet. Simultaneously, a virus decimates the planet’s population, kicking off a war for survival between humans and apes. Cornelius, Caesar’s son, is born in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and is two in War of the Planet of the Apes, so he’s not a big part of those movies.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set 300 years after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes. Surprisingly, the new movie starts with a brief scene of Caesar’s funeral. The scene features some of the apes who fought by Caesar’s side during the early days of their primate society. It also gives us a glimpse at Cornelius, Caesar’s son. Nevertheless, after this quick scene, we are taken to the future to meet a new cast of characters, and Cornelius is naturally nowhere to be seen. But could one of the new characters on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes be Caesar’s descendent?
Who is Caesar’s descendant in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?
While Caesar and his son are primarily absent from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the whole movie revolves around the teachings of the chimpanzee leader. The new film introduces us to Noa (Owen Teague), a chimpanzee hunter who crosses paths with Raka (Peter Macon), an orangutan part of a fading tribe dedicated to spreading Caesar’s words of wisdom. Through Raka, Noa learns how Caeser wished for peaceful coexistence with humans and that he fought for all ape-kind’s freedom. Because of that, Noa becomes a spiritual successor to Caesar, even if there’s no confirmed bloodline connection between the two.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also explores the dangers of twisting Caesar’s motto, which claims that apes are stronger together. The movie’s villain, Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), has taken the old chimpanzee’s name and teachings and turned it into a propaganda machine to subdue other apes and explore humans in his quest for power.
It’s interesting how Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows two opposing ideologies derived from the same source. If the movie kicks off a new trilogy, it’ll be interesting to see how these themes evolve.