Warning: contains spoilers for Beware the Planet of the Apes #4!
1968’s Planet of the Apes films were full of memorable characters, and now one has been revealed as a stone-cold killer. Marvel’s new Beware the Planet of the Apes series is a prequel to the original, showing events leading up to George Taylor’s arrival. Many classic characters, such as Doctor Zaius and Zira, have appeared. In issue four, fans will be stunned to learn one classic character has killer instincts.
Beware the Planet of the Apes #4 is written by Marc Guggenheim and drawn by Alvaro Lopez. Nova, one of the “primitive” humans George Taylor encountered in the 1968 classic, is being chased by a soldier of the Hominidae Empire. When cornered, Nova takes an arrow and stabs the soldier in the eye, killing him. Later, after the Hominidae have been defeated, a group of telepathic humans decide to mind-wipe Cornelius and Zira, in order to preserve their secrets.
However, they leave Nova’s mind intact, which gives her insight into the near future, including Taylor’s arrival.
Beware the Planet of the Apes is the latest in Marvel’s new line of comics based on the classic franchise. Planet of the Apes began as a novel by French novelist Pierre Boulle, before being adapted into a film in 1968. The movie, depicting a world of intelligent simians and primitive humans, was an instant hit and spawned a multimedia empire still going strong. In Beware the Planet of the Apes, readers meet Cornelius and Zira in the days before George Taylor’s spaceship crash-landed. They also meet Nova, a young woman who cannot speak.
Beware the Planet of the Apes has added to the franchise’s lore, adding new factions such as the Hominidae Empire and the Gibbons’ apes. Furthermore, the book has explored the personalities and motivations of Cornelius and Zira, two of the original film’s simian protagonists. Yet perhaps most surprising of all, Nova has benefitted the most from the series. In the classic Planet of the Apes films, Nova had little to no agency. Seen as primitive and uneducated, Nova was nothing more than a damsel in distress, needing rescue by George Taylor.
Yet in Beware the Planet of the Apes, Nova’s agency is restored in a grand fashion. Guggenheim and Lopez have shown Nova to be far more intelligent and resourceful than fans thought. Killing the Hominidae Empire general in such a brutal fashion shows that Nova does not need George Taylor, or anyone, to rescue her. When the telepathic humans leave Nova’s memories intact, it is not because she cannot speak, but because they trust her with this knowledge. Nova was integral to the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, and at long last, has become a vital character.
Beware the Planet of the Apes #4 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!