Is Caesar In Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes?

Warning: Major spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes below!

Summary Caesar's dead body appears in the opening scene of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, as he is burned on a funeral pyre.

Caesar makes no other appearances in the sequel, with new protagonist Noa learning about his legacy many years later.

While he doesn't physically appear in Kingdom, Caesar's legacy informs the entire story.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes launches a new chapter for the sci-fi saga, but does Andy Serkis' Caesar play a role in the story? While it once appeared Tim Burton's maligned Planet of the Apes remake had slain the franchise, it was rebooted to great acclaim with 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes. This spawned a trilogy fronted by Caesar (Andy Serkis), an evolved ape who leads an uprising against his human oppressors. The trilogy covered Caesar's origin and struggles with becoming a messiah figure while charting the decline of the human race.

Caesar's final chapter War was one of the bleakest outings in the Planet of the Apes movie franchise, but it closed on a hopeful note too. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes picks up "generations" after War for the Planet of the Apes' ending, and follows a new protagonist named Noa (Owen Teague). When his tribe is kidnapped by the vicious Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), Noa sets out to rescue them, while learning more about the history of apes and humans, and an historical figure called Caesar.

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Caesar Does Appear In Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes

Caesar's funeral is Kingdom's opening scene

Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

Fans of Caesar will be delighted to hear that he does appear in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - but only as a dead body during the sequel's opening sequence. The film begins with Caesar's orangutan best friend Maurice and the other survivors of War for the Planet of the Apes gathering to lay flowers on his body, before burning him on a pyre. Naturally, Caesar has no lines, and it is unknown if Andy Serkis reprised the role for this brief scene.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' funeral opening serves two functions, giving audiences a transition between the past and present while underlining that while Caesar doesn't physically appear, his legend remains. A major part of Noa's journey is learning of Caesar from the wise Raka (Peter Macon), and how the long-deceased ape taught compassion and unity to his followers. Noa also struggles to work alongside the mysterious human Nova (Freya Allen) but comes to understand from stories of Caesar that mankind and apes can learn to co-exist.

Related Wes Ball's Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes: Cast & Character Guide Owen Teague leads the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes cast as Cornelius. But who else is starring alongside him and what characters do they play?

How Caesar Is Still Important To Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' Story

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a legacy sequel in the truest sense

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It's from Raka's teachings of Caesar that Noa learns how the world used to be and that he must stand against tyrants like Proximus.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes doesn't spell out how much time has passed between Caesar's death and the start of Noa's story, but it's clear from the way human cities have been reclaimed by nature that it has been a long time. With the passing years, Caesar's memory has receded into the background, and for younger apes like Noa, he has become more of a myth. It's from Raka's teachings of Caesar that Noa learns how the world used to be and that he must stand against tyrants like Proximus.

Proximus is twisting and warping Caesar's teachings for his own ends too, using them to enslave others to do his bidding. In a sense, it's more powerful for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes to treat Caesar as a faded memory than it ever would have been to give him a flashback cameo. When Caesar dies in War for the Planet of the Apes, there is hope that the surviving apes will have a bright future, but he still knows whatever lies ahead will be messy, as history always is.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes star Owen Teague's other notable credits include IT: Chapters 1 & 2 and the "Arkangel" episode of Black Mirror.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ends on a note that sets up a potential future conflict between apes and mankind. Noa's eyes have been opened to the nature of war and conquest, so Caesar's teaching about humans and apes learning to trust each other and work together will also play a big part moving forwards.