Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the new installment in the prequel series to the 1968 sci-fi original movie, and given its unique place on the overarching timeline, it has the opportunity to revisit the series’ original hero, George Taylor. The Planet of the Apes timeline can be confusing, but the seeds have been planted for the new series to connect to the original set of movies from the 1970s. If the two timelines do unify, it seems inevitable that the franchise’s original protagonist–George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston–will make an appearance in some capacity.
In the original movie, George Taylor was an astronaut sent on a deep-space mission in hypersleep, awakening when his spaceship crash-lands on a planet that turns out to be Earth in the distant future. The ape society that Taylor is introduced to is far more advanced than the civilization seen in War for the Planet of the Apes, so there is still a significant amount of time between the two. The upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set to follow Caesar’s son, Cornelius, so while it seems that no more than a couple of decades have passed, that may still be enough time to justify bringing Taylor into the fold.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Story Sets Up George Taylor’s Return
Taylor’s existence has already been hinted at in the prequel series, as news footage in the background of a Rise of the Planet of the Apes scene referred to Taylor’s ship, the Icarus, being lost in space. Now, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is setting up Taylor’s return by establishing the societal conditions that existed when Taylor first returned to Earth in the original movie. As seen at the end of War For the Planet of the Apes, the virus dubbed the Simian Flu that wiped out most of humanity had already evolved, making humans mute and feral. That is exactly where humanity was when Taylor crash-landed on Earth.
While the ape civilizations established in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes might not be quite as advanced as the ones in the original movie, they don’t necessarily need to be to introduce Taylor. The only factor that really matters is that the planet looks far different from the one that Taylor left. Whether that’s over 100 years or 1,000 isn’t relevant. Taylor can still awake from hypersleep after a crash, which could lay the foundation for a sort of adapted redo of the original movie.
How Kingdom’s Story Hints At A George Taylor Appearance
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will involve an ape leader searching for human technology as a means to dominate not only humans but other apes as well. That could be the way the character of George Taylor is reintroduced to the franchise. The technology that the apes are seeking could be related to Taylor’s mission. Advancing technology has always been at the heart of the Planet of the Apes franchise as a major difference between humanity and apes, so something related to Taylor’s spacecraft seems like a perfectly logical inclusion.
In fact, the so-called technology could be Taylor himself, still in hypersleep. His full spacecraft, or even just the pod that he’s suspended in hypersleep in would be considered secret technology to a society of relatively unsophisticated apes, unfamiliar with the intricacies of space travel. That may not yield a major role for Taylor in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but it would set him up for a larger role in the follow-up movies.
George Taylor’s Return Would Set Up Planet Of The Apes’ Next Two Movies
There is almost no chance that an appearance in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes would be significant for Taylor, as the movie has far too much heavy lifting to do when it comes to setting up the new world order that has been established since Caesar’s death. The most likely option is some sort of cameo role, in which Taylor’s existence is revealed, but perhaps not much more; it may even be in a mid- or post-credits scene. Taylor’s reveal in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could have great significance though, as it would provide a focus for future sequels in the form of Planet of the Apes 4 and 5.
