The following contains spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, now playing in theaters
2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sees the world in a state of ruin and overgrown vegetation, with various factions of survivors. In the Planet of the Apes chronology, the new film picks up generations after the events of Matt Reeve’s War for the Planet of the Apes, which was released in 2017, concluding the previous trilogy. The world has changed drastically during that time, as humanity is no longer the dominant species on Earth, and the downfall of technology and organized governments has transitioned the planet into a mix of post-apocalyptic and pre-historic aesthetics.
The latest installment to the iconic sci-fi franchise examines the various developing ape cultures and some remaining human factions in the last impact of Caesar’s influence. Owen Teague leads the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cast as Noa, a young chimpanzee whose village is attacked, leading him on a path of self-discovery as he attempts to rescue his friends and mother. Veteran character actor Kevin Durand plays the villain, Proximus Caesar, Peter Macon plays scholar ape Raka, and Freya Allan and William H. Macy represent the film’s main human characters, establishing most of the factions.
Many of the main apes in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes come from the peaceful Eagle Clan, which is led by Noa’s father, Koro. In the 300 years since Caesar’s death, they’ve established their own culture, primarily separate from outside knowledge of human history or the accomplishments of Caesar. While the previous Planet of the Apes trilogy saw apes domesticating horses, Wes Ball’s movie expands on the idea, as the Eagle Clan integrate bonded eagle pets into their society.
The film begins with Noa and his friends Soona and Anaya gathering eggs for a vital coming-of-age ceremony with their clan. The film implies that each ape in the Eagle Clan is meant to look after their respective egg until a certain right-of-passage ceremony, and events are set into motion when Noa’s egg is broken. The only other notable ape in the Eagle Clan is Noa’s mother, Dar, one of the characters captured by Proximus.
Proximus Caesar is the central antagonist of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. He’s an ambitious ape who’s modeled himself after a misguided interpretation of Caesar, using the manta “apes together strong,” which audiences will remember from the previous trilogy, as a way to establish order in his camp. While the Eagle Clan lives in a smaller-sized village, Proximus Caesar’s clan has a far more industrious settlement, using an old wrecked ship on the beach for shelter. The shelter is built near an abandoned human vault, the contents of which become a central mystery in the movie.
Proximus Caesar is an intelligent ape who’s begun learning about human history from William H. Macy’s Trevathan. As he can’t read himself, Trevathan reads to him from old books, informing him about the Ancient Romans. Given the association with Caesar the ape and the term “Caesar,” which was a title referring to the early Roman emperors, Proximus views human history as valuable to him, as he fashions himself something of a conqueror ruler.
The irony of Proximus’s use of “apes together strong” is that he notably lacks the compassion and self-sacrifice that made Caesar a beloved leader. The apes in Proximus’s camp are only “together” in that they’re all equally below him, as he rules as a fierce, harsh dictator. Proximus uses the apes in his camp to reach his goal: to gain entrance to the vault and utilize abandoned human technology, like guns, to further establish his rule. He sends out forces of apes with electric weapons and horses to raid, pillage, and bring back new apes to expand his workforce.
The secondary antagonist in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is Sylva, a mighty gorilla and the leading commander of Proximus’s army. He leads a smaller sub-faction referred to in the film as The Masked Apes, who ride around wearing terrifying masks, searching for potential subjects to imprison and return to Proximus’s colony. Sylva is responsible for killing Noa’s father and raiding the Eagle Clan village at the start of the film, and also attacks a clan of non-speaking feral humans.
Early in his journey, Noa discovers an old human university, where he finds an orangutan named Raka. Raka is the final member of The Order of Caesar after The Masked Apes killed his previous partner. They’re a group of scholars who seek to preserve the ways of Caesar, encouraging strength through compassion and nobility. Raka teaches Noa about Caesar and his fondness for human beings, encouraging him to be kind to Mae. Raka also shows Noa a book, explaining that humankind used symbols on paper to communicate meaning.
While the 2010s saga saw humanity’s fall from being the central power on Earth, they still existed in prevalent forces. Three hundred years later, in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, humanity is in a far worse condition, with many not even knowing how to sleep. Mae is the first human character in the film who’s revealed to understand how to speak, and she works with Noa and the Eagle Clan to break into Proximus’s vault and obtain a vital item.
The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ending sees Mae returning to her colony, which is hidden out in an underground bunker. This is an enormous reveal for Wes Ball’s trilogy, establishing the notion that there’s still a significant force of human power alive on Earth. When Mae returns the SATCOM key from Proximus’s bunker to her own people, it’s used to re-activate satellites, bridging communications with other human bunkers.
The latest movie poses the idea of humanity near extinction, drifting toward a time when they might become a feral, non-intelligent species on a planet ruled by apes. However, the final plot twist reveal suggests that humanity still has some fight in it, setting up a potential sequel conflict. Mae’s human colony could be a primary antagonist force in future Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sequels, as she and Noa attempt to establish peace that simply isn’t meant to be.