Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will see the return of an aspect the franchise has been lacking since Dawn of the Planet of the Apes via the character set to replace Caesar. One of the promised aspects of the fourth rebooted movie in the franchise is Kingdom‘s exploration of Caesar’s legacy. This element of the film was teased at length in November 2023 when the first trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was released.
Concerning the chronological order of the Planet of the Apes movies, Kingdom is the fourth in the timeline. Set after Caesar’s rise to power in the rebooted trilogy released in 2011, 2014, and 2017 respectively, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ story will center on a chimpanzee named Noa who comes into conflict with an empire led by a tyrannical ape. Interestingly, the replacement of Caesar in this compelling story premise will herald the return of a franchise-best aspect that has been absent since 2014 with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Proximus Caesar Looks Like Planet Of The Apes’ Best Villain Since Koba In Dawn
Intriguingly, the replacement for Caesar in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is not Noa, the protagonist of the film, but the villain. The dictator ape shown in the trailer for Kingdom is named Proximus Caesar. It seems that the villain of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes deems himself the next Caesar, given the Latin root of his name. This is an incredibly intriguing prospect, having a villain who sees himself as the successor of Caesar only in a much darker light than Andy Serkis’ character from the first three movies.
In introducing Proximus Caesar as the film’s villain, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes looks set to have the franchise’s best villain since Koba. While Woody Harrelson’s Colonel was a great human villain, no character has come close to emulating the menace of Koba. Hopefully, Caesar’s dark replacement in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will provide this.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Needs Proximus Caesar To Deliver After War
As mentioned, Woody Harrelson’s Colonel was a fantastic villain in War for the Planet of the Apes. The Colonel was suitably threatening and had a wealth of emotional depth, providing a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy in the process. That said, it remains the case that War for the Planet of the Apes was somewhat lacking in comparison to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes‘ central conflict.
The dynamic between Caesar and Koba was undoubtedly the best in the entire trilogy, with the latter serving as a suitable foil for the former. The idea of infighting between the apes was incredibly compelling and is arguably a big reason as to why Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the best in the franchise. Through Proximus Caesar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could see a return to this fantastic hero-villain dynamic after the human-ape conflict of War for the Planet of the Apes.
