Warning! Major spoilers ahead for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball breaks down Noa and Mae’s final scene in his new movie. After the Caesar-focused reboot trilogy, Owen Teague’s Noa becomes the lead character in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which takes place several hundred years after Caesar’s death. The film also introduces Freya Allan’s Mae, who is revealed to be one of the few remaining humans. After putting Noa and his ape companions in great danger in order to accomplish her mission, Mae returns to meet with Noa, and the two essentially make a tentative peace.
In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Ball explains that final Noa and Mae scene during the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ending. According to the director, Noa’s forgiveness and intelligence is eye-opening for Mae, and the interaction will impact events moving forward. Check out Ball’s full comment below:
Although Mae was essentially manipulating and deceiving Noa throughout the movie, she evidently learns something about ape-kind during her final interaction with him. Even though she blows up the sea wall and floods the bunker while Noa and other apes are inside, he seeks peace instead of retribution. In their final conversation, she affirms her commitment to rebuilding humanity, but she also sees the complex emotions these creatures possess and their capacity for reason.
The fact that Mae carries a gun during this final encounter is proof that she went in willing to kill Noa if necessary, and it speaks to how seriously she is pursuing a brighter future for her kind. While she may have originally seen the fall of ape-kind as a crucial part of humanity’s rise, Noa has seemingly planted the idea in her head that there may be room for humans and apes to live side-by-side, and that they’re not so different. As Ball teases, however, it may be difficult for Mae to communicate this to her allies.
The positive Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes reviews and strong projected box office would suggest that there will indeed be additional sequels. With humanity once again on the rise, it seems like conflict between the two species is inevitable, but Mae and Noa could very well end up being the key to achieving peace. It remains to be seen how Noa and Mae’s stories will continue to unfold, but Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes evidently tees the characters up for important roles moving forward.