To assume that War is taking us back to the 1968 Apes is to disregard the new movies as a reboot. Rise takes place in 2011, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes takes place in 2021, and War takes place in 2023. The original Planet of the Apes takes place in the year 3978. Bright Eyes has increased intelligence from the drug, and that intelligence is passed on to her son, Caesar.Īdditionally, the dates don’t line up.
Rise presents an entirely new timeline where Caesar is the offspring of Bright Eyes, a chimpanzee given a drug to test a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease. Caesar is the child of Cornelius (also McDowell) and Zira ( Kim Hunter), who traveled back in time in Escape from the Planet of the Apes after the planet was destroyed at the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (this franchise rules). In the original Planet of the Apes saga ( spoilers ahead), the Apes rise up because they’re led by Caesar ( Roddy McDowell) in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. So with Nova and a human populace that’s likely to become re-infected with the new mutation of the Simian Flu, that must mean that War connects to Planet, right? Not really.įirst off, there’s the fact that we would have to disregard Rise being a straight reboot. While the original Planet of the Apes never explains why humans lost the ability to speak, War shows that it’s a mutation of the original virus, the Simian Flu, which killed off a large portion of humanity following the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Additionally, Nova, like Harrison’s character and the other humans in the original movie, can’t speak, which is why Astronaut George Taylor ( Charlton Heston), who can talk, is so remarkable to the ruling apes. The biggest tell here is Nova ( Amiah Miller), who shares her name with Linda Harrison’s character from the 1968 original. Where some viewers may be confused, however, is in the conclusion setting up a possible tie to the original Planet of the Apes.
He was the central figure of all of the rebooted Apes franchise, and War shows him not just as the first smart ape, but also as the leader capable of forging a new civilization. More importantly, it shows that Caesar’s journey mattered. It’s a touching, moving finale that shows there’s room for real growth and stakes. It may not be the ending for the franchise, but it’s definitely the end of the Caesar Trilogy as Caesar ( Andy Serkis) dies from his wounds after leading his people to a promised land. War for the Planet of the Apes is a conclusion. Spoilers ahead for War for the Planet of the Apes.