Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Returns The Franchise To Its Roots After 55 Years

The teaser trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is here, and the movie is returning to the franchise’s roots for the first time in over five decades. The last Planet of the Apes movie was 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, which concluded Caesar’s story that began with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Caesar led his species to victory by defeating the Colonel (Woody Harrelson), but the beloved ape succumbed to his battle wounds at the end of the 2017 film. Maurice the orangutan promised Caesar that his son would know the warrior’s name, hinting that Caesar’s legacy would live on.

War for the Planet of the Apes’ ending perfectly wrapped up the trilogy and told the full origin of the original 1968 movie. However, while the 2017 release was the end of one story, the film still set up the future. Throughout the trilogy, it was hinted that not every ape agreed with Caesar’s teachings. That seems to be the focus of the fourth film. The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes teaser trailer hints that the new ape protagonist will protect his tribe from other ape factions and potential threats, including devolved humans.

Kingdom Returns To The Original Planet Of The Apes Movie Format

Humans are back where they started in Planet of the Apes

The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes teaser trailer shows a glimpse of humans in the world, and humans have devolved into savages while the apes have become the reigning and dominant species. This is totally in line with the original The Planet of the Apes, which saw the apes keeping humans in cages and treating them like the lesser species. This marks the first time humans have been depicted in such a way in the series since the 1968 film, meaning that the franchise has finally gone back to its roots.

The Planet of the Apes franchise going back to its roots was totally unexpected, as the three movies in the reboot series have all been set in the present day. However, there’s a significant time jump in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The upcoming 2024 film will likely go a step further too and see apes completely wiping out the human race, as humans are essentially extinct in the original movie. It’s possible that humans aren’t villains in the new movie but simply a nuisance, as it’s confirmed that apes will be in their own warring factions in the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes story.

Kingdom’s New Story Means It Can Connect To The Original Movies

The upcoming film can bring together the original movies and prequels

It hasn’t been made clear exactly how far into the future Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set, but based on the YouTube description for the trailer, the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes setting is “several generations” after War for the Planet of the Apes. This is clear from the fact that an orangutan is playing with some kind of advanced technology in a cave. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ jump forward by several generations means that the upcoming movie and the whole reboot series could actually be more connected to the original movies than audiences originally thought.

It was never clear whether the reboot series was officially connected to the original Planet of the Apes films despite being sort-of prequels that told Planet of the Apes’ origin story. The reboot series could easily have been its own world, but the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes trailer suggests they could all be part of the same cinematic universe. After all, the upcoming movie’s timeline is closer to the original movie’s setting than the prequels’ setting. However, that would mean that the prequel series must end before the beginning of The Planet of the Apes.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Is Setting Up A Proper 1968 Movie Remake

A remake of Planet of the Apes seems inevitable

Instead of ending the series, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could be doing the exact opposite and setting up a full-on Planet of the Apes remake. Given how far in the future Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set, it’s just as likely that the original 1968 movie could actually be remade. The remake would face a huge challenge when it comes to the movie’s iconic ending, as audiences will be waiting for that very moment, which couldn’t possibly be as shocking as it was 55 years ago.

However, the studio has the perfect chance to subvert expectations and reconstruct the movie in a way that can still somehow surprise audiences. That could especially work given that the prequel series is from the perspective of the apes and viewers have the knowledge of the history of the planet of the apes. Nevertheless, a proper remake is still a daunting project. But given the significant time jump in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and how successful the franchise is, a ground-up remake of the original is inevitable.