The final scene of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes sees both Noa and Mae looking up, symbolically laying out a path for the franchise’s future. Starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, and Kevin Durand, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes involves an unspecified time jump from the death of Caesar and the action of War For the Planet of the Apes. While most of humanity has become feral in that time frame, the movie reveals that there are pockets of the species that managed to quarantine themselves from the deadly Simian Flu that devastated human society.
Noa (Teague) encounters one such human, Mae (Allan), on his journey, and their paths align as they work against the tyrannical Proximus Caesar, each for their own reason. While Noa seeks to free his clan, Mae seeks to gain access to a specific piece of technology, and the prize she removes from Proximus Caesar’s vault provides some insight into what might be next for the Apes franchise. The movie ends with an uneasy truce between Noa and Mae, and the movie ends with the young ape looking toward the sky, although director Wes Ball chose not to reveal what Noa saw.
At various points in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, there are subtle references to space, like Noa discovering what appears to be a mobile of the planets in the classroom he encounters. The connection to space becomes obvious when it’s revealed that the item Mae takes from the oceanside vault is a SATCOM encryption key, which allows for communication using satellites that are, presumably, still orbiting the planet despite many years having passed since they were launched and monitored. There is no doubt that the franchise will once again look to the stars, as its predecessors did.
The franchise found its origins in space, as both the original 1968 Planet of the Apes and its much-maligned 2001 remake both began with a modern astronaut crash-landing on a planet where apes were the dominant species, which is ultimately revealed to be Earth. It’s only natural the franchise begins to move towards that eventual point in the timeline. As the Caesar trilogy of the 2010s focused on the origin of the world depicted in 1968’s Planet of the Apes, in theory it was only ever a matter of time before the Apes franchise pivoted to focus on the stars.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ends with both Noa and Mae looking to the sky, although they are now likely many miles apart. The fact that both are included is heavily symbolic; it is proof that their stories will continue to be connected, for one. While the next chapter of the trilogy beginning with Kingdom has yet to be greenlit, it is only a matter of time given the most recent film’s box office success. It’s safe to assume that both Noa and Mae will return, as the franchise will continue to require both an ape and human perspective.
It’s important that a member of each species was shown in Kingdom‘s final scene. Mae looks to the sky with hope, as her mission to secure the SATCOM key reignites the possibility of human civilization regaining a foothold. Noa looks to the sky with wonder, marveling at the possibilities of the cosmos. Space represents a path forward for each, but while Noa would seek a way to improve ape civilization, Mae would seek humanity’s return to the top of the evolutionary ladder. Their cross purposes should lay the groundwork for the rest of the trilogy that began with Kingdom.
Where Caesar’s trilogy explored the world largely as it is in modern times, Noa’s (presumed) trilogy can once again inject true science fiction into the franchise. The Planet of the Apes franchise is based in science fiction, all the way back to author Pierre Boulle’s original 1963 novel. Between the significant time jump and the sudden reemergence of technology like tasers and satellites in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the franchise can once again approach the cosmic elements that first sent George Taylor and his comrades hurtling into the future.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also marks a turning point in the franchise with the reintroduction of intelligent humans. As opposed to starting the world over with primitive ape technology, Kingdom ensured that there was a logical way for futuristic technology, communication, and space travel to exist in the world at the current point in the timeline. It’s possible that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes secretly included George Taylor himself, which would bring the prospect of space travel that much closer.