With the success of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, speculation has started to mount about the franchise’s future. After a misfire in 2001, the Planet of the Apes franchise came roaring back with a prequel trilogy that surpassed all expectations. Now, seven years after the outstanding War for the Planet of the Apes, the franchise has jumped hundreds of years into the future, opening up countless possibilities for potential sequels.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ box office success means that a sequel is now likely. While a name can only reveal so much information, each title of the Apes prequels so far has provided an important clue about the plot. True to form, Kingdom told the story of an ape kingdom in its infancy, and the name of the sequel, when it does arrive, can indicate the next step in Noa’s journey.

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Empire Of The Planet Of The Apes

Proximus Caesar’s kingdom could grow even larger, despite his death

The ending of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows Noa and Eagle Clan escaping from Proximus Caesar’s coastal kingdom, but that may not necessarily spell the end for the wannabe ruler. Proximus is attacked by eagles and sent plummeting into the ocean. This appears fatal at first glance, but it’s possible that he survived this fall, and he may seek revenge in future sequels. If Proximus manages to salvage any technology from the flooded vault, he could become even more powerful, and his kingdom could develop into an empire.

Even if Proximus didn’t survive his fall, his kingdom could still live on after his death. Many of the apes living in his kingdom are kidnapped tribes being forced to work for him, but he also has an army of loyal followers. His death could inspire a new leader to claim his throne, and they could even use his demise as a point of inspiration to solidify their power. An emboldened kingdom would spell danger for Eagle Clan and the other tribes in the area, and they could soon spread across the continent and establish an empire.

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Chaos Of The Planet Of The Apes

Proximus Caesar’s demise could create a power vacuum

Proximus Caesar’s brutal reign may be over, but this could lead to a period of unrest as the captured tribes fight to regain their independence. There may not be a smooth transition from the kingdom back to the way that things were. If not all the tribes manage to establish their colonies once more, like Eagle Clan, there could be a small army of apes seeking to secure their survival using more violent methods. By adding Proximus Caesar’s wounded army into the mix, there are several groups that are left without any sense of security.

The alternative to Proximus Caesar’s autocratic rule could be even worse. As Noa continues his journey toward becoming a powerful leader, he will face threats that Caesar never could have envisaged in the original reboot trilogy. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes already shows that Caesar’s benevolent teachings have either been forgotten or twisted, so an all-out ape civil war is a distinct possibility. The humans, having established contact with another population of survivors, will be gaining power just as the apes lose theirs.

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Beyond The Planet Of The Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ends with both humans and apes looking up to space

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes teases the franchise’s future with its final scene. After parting ways, both Noa and Mae look up to the stars, suggesting that the next sequel could involve space travel. This would pay off a tease from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which shows a newspaper headline claiming that some human astronauts are lost in space. Hundreds of years after this event, those astronauts may still come back into play, especially if the franchise also includes time travel like some of the earlier movies in the series.

The humans living in a bunker near Los Angeles appear to have just as much technological expertise as modern humans. If they can communicate across long distances, they may soon be able to conquer the skies too. The apes are more primitive, but Noa shows that they can learn when he repairs the electric staff by himself. Noa looking through the telescope in the final scene could simply be symbolic of the increased ambition among the apes after witnessing the potential of Proximus’ kingdom and the secrets of the vault, but it could also be taken more literally.

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Evolution Of The Planet Of The Apes

The struggle between apes and humans could take another turn

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes showed how far apes had progressed since Caesar’s time. After many generations without any real competition from humans, the apes have developed more complex cultures, building structures, and environmental control. However, the ending of Kingdom suggests that they may be about to evolve once again. Noa gains a more nuanced understanding of the world around him, and the opening of the vault shows the apes a glimpse of the technological advances that humans managed to make hundreds of years earlier.

Apes show signs in Kingdom of grappling with the fundamentals of electricity. Once they master this new technology, it could open up a whole new world of possibilities. The next sequel after Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looks like it will focus more on Noa’s journey, but there’s a chance it could jump ahead another few hundred years, showing the aftermath of Noa and Mae’s journey. Humans and apes may both be more advanced, and the apes could be getting to grips with sci-fi technologies like time travel, gene editing and spacecraft.

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Rebellion For The Planet Of The Apes

Humans could seek to reclaim the planet

The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cast doesn’t feature as many human characters as other movies in the franchise, at least until the very end. The only important human characters are Mae, played by Freya Allan, and Trevathan, played by William H. Macy. Their conflict could hint at the future of the franchise. Trevathan tries to convince Mae to let go of the past and eke out whatever kind of comfortable existence she can under the rule of apes. Mae refuses, and by killing Trevathan she symbolically represents humanity’s prevailing philosophy.

Rather than hiding in the shadows and trying to survive in peace, the humans in Kingdom are desperate to establish contact with other settlements across the country. By growing in power, the humans could be preparing themselves for a rebellion to take back the planet from the apes. Other Planet of the Apes movies frequently show humans as the aggressors, so the next sequel could see a revitalized human population once again taking the fight to the apes. Noa and Mae’s tumultuous dynamic would suddenly become the focus of all human-ape relations.

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Strength Of The Planet Of The Apes

Noa and Mae could unite to protect their tribes

Whatever happens next in the Planet of the Apes franchise, Noa and Mae seem to be at the center. Human characters generally haven’t returned for more than one movie in the reboot era, but Noa and Mae’s final scene together seems more like a temporary goodbye than a permanent farewell. Director Wes Ball has claimed that he sees the two of them as the future of the franchise, even though a sequel has yet to be confirmed. Noa and Mae go through periods of trust and distrust in Kingdom. Their relationship could symbolize the large-scale relationship between humans and apes.

Although they don’t end on the best of terms, Noa and Mae form a deep understanding that neither one thought possible initially. They are drawn together by their common enemy, and a sequel could re-use this plot point. If apes and humans do go to war, Noa and Mae could be the ones to show that there is strength in unity. This would also keep Caesar’s legacy alive by alluding to his famous saying: “Apes together strong.” Whether they face a threat from a war or from some other external force, strength will be key for apes and humans to survive.

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Fall Of The Planet Of The Apes

The reboot franchise could come full circle

Koba’s uprising in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was the first crack in the unity of apes, but Kingdom blows this crack wide open. Generations after Caesar’s death, apes are at war with one another, and they have forgotten Caesar’s rule that apes should not kill other apes. This disharmony could bring about the destruction of their fragile world, especially if humans regain some semblance of their former power. By referencing the title of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the next sequel could cap the reboot saga as a tragedy.

Proximus Caesar’s raid on the Eagle Clan highlights how apes are willing to kill other apes with reckless abandon. Not only that, but they no longer have a sense of collective progress as they did under Caesar. In an increasingly fractured world, the apes will become more vulnerable to attack, both from humans and from themselves. The decline of ape rule could mirror the social disorganization in some human societies from history, specifically the Roman Empire, which has already been referenced several times in the Planet of the Apes franchise.

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Planet Of The Apes

The long-awaited remake could finally become a reality

Ever since the creation of the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise, the movies have been drawing closer to the events of the original 1968 sci-fi classic. Tim Burton’s 2001 remake was a disappointment, but this new era of the franchise has laid a lot of important groundwork for another potential attempt, and it has built a lot of good faith among fans too. The timeline of the Planet of the Apes franchise dictates that the prequels should eventually lead up to the events of the original, and a remake with modern visual effects would have huge potential.

One potentially interesting concept for a remake would be to flip the story on its head. Every fan knows the big twist at the end of Planet of the Apes by now, and trying to recreate this would inevitably fall flat. However, telling the story of George Taylor’s landing on Earth from the perspective of the apes could be a good way to tell the same story in a new way, while avoiding too many difficult comparisons to the original movie. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes shows apes at a more advanced stage than they were in Caesar’s time, so they could soon have a society that mirrors the one shown in the original.