Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Ending Risks Undoing The Franchise's Great Villain Change

Summary Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes succeeded in investing audiences in new characters while setting up an exciting future for the franchise.

Mae's betrayal of Noa in the ending hints at more human-ape conflicts in the future, potentially changing the dynamic of the series.

While human villains may work, the series risks losing the compelling ape villains introduced in the rebooted films such as Koba and Proximus Caesar.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ending risks damaging one of the franchise's best villain changes. As a sequel to the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy, Kingdom had a difficult task. Not only did a compelling story have to be told with a completely new cast for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, but it also had to tie into the thematic legacy of Caesar's journey. For the most part, Kingdom succeeded by having Andy Serkis' Caesar loom large over the story, despite being set hundreds of years later in Planet of the Apes' timeline.

By Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ending, the film managed to invest audiences in the new characters while setting up an exciting future for the franchise. This was primarily managed through the compelling stories of Owen Teague's Noa, the film's central ape character, and Freya Allan's Mae, Noa's human ally. Their relationship is more complex than many might have thought from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' trailers, especially with new developments in the film's ending. While these developments are interesting, they risk ruining the franchise's best changes regarding its villains.

Related Every Planet Of The Apes Movie, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Kingdom) The Planet of the Apes franchise began over 50 years ago. With five original films, a reboot, and four modern movies, ranking them reveals the best.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Ending Sets Up More Human-Ape Conflicts

Humans & Apes Remain At Odds In Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' Finale

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At the end of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Mae somewhat betrays Noa. The entire film surrounds the film's villain, Proximus Caesar, desiring to enter a vault from when humans ruled the Earth. Proximus thinks what is in this vault will grant the apes the opportunity to completely rule the planet, thus expanding his titular kingdom. Mae, however, wants to get into the vault and retrieve something that will help humans become more dominant once more, causing some friction between her and Noa by the story's end.

Mae is shown taking what she took from the vault - a deciphering key for a satellite - to a larger group of humans.

Eventually, Mae almost drowns Noa and the rest of the apes after recovering what she needs, fleeing into the post-apocalyptic American countryside. Mae later returns to say goodbye to Noa, though unknowingly conceals a gun behind her back, proving her distrust of apes in spite of her friendship with Noa and Raka. After this, Mae is shown taking what she took from the vault - a deciphering key for a satellite - to a larger group of humans. This allows them to contact others around the globe, potentially hinting at more human-ape conflicts in the future.

This setup comes primarily from the beliefs of Mae in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Mae spends the film insisting that the world does not belong to apes and that humans should rule as they once did. It is likely that the humans whom Mae was helping share this mindset. If so, providing them with a greater sense of cohesion now that they can communicate with other groups sets up human retribution against the apes. The humans of this world now have more power, potentially allowing them to communicate, rise, and attempt to retake the Earth.

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The Rebooted Planet Of The Apes Films Work Best With Ape Villains

Koba & Proximus Are The Best Villains Of The Rebooted Apes Series

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Although the complex, complicated relationship between Mae and Noa will be interesting to explore going forward, more human villains risk ruining the rebooted franchise's best change: ape villains. Rise of the Planet of the Apes had human villains, but Dawn of the Planet of the Apes introduced Koba as the film's primary antagonist. Koba was infinitely more compelling as a villain as he was one of Caesar's closest allies, but turned against him due to his hatred of humans.

Proximus ranks with Koba as one of the best villains in the rebooted series...

Similarly, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes introduced Proximus Caesar. Proximus ranks with Koba as one of the best villains in the rebooted series, primarily because of Kevin Durand's fantastic performance and the way Proximus has twisted Caesar's legacy for his own gain. With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ending teasing human villains for the future of the franchise, the series risks reverting to less compelling antagonists, as evident by the lasting impact Koba and Proximus have had on the films.

Related Koba Nearly Returned In War For The Planet Of The Apes: Here's How Koba (Toby Kebbell) was a fantastic villain in the previous movie and here's how he nearly returned in War For The Planet Of The Apes.

War For The Planet Of The Apes Proved Human Villains Can Work

Kingdom's Sequels Need To Learn From War For The Planet Of The Apes

While ape villains would be the ideal antagonists in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' sequels, War for the Planet of the Apes proved that human villains can still be very compelling. The primary villain in that movie was Woody Harrelson's Colonel, who was a great character and an even better foil for Caesar. This proved that human characters, if written correctly, can still work as compelling enemies to the apes, though Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' sequels will have to find the best way to do this.

Director Wes Ball has stated that future stories based on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' characters will happen if the film is successful.

The most obvious choice is Mae. Noa and Mae's friendship-turned-rivalry was one of the more interesting aspects of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. If Mae is positioned as the primary villain of the franchise going forward, it could offer a wealth of stories to explore. Exploring their past friendship, the fondness that still remains between Noa and Mae, and the two being on opposite sides of a brewing conflict could make for a dynamic similar to Caesar and Koba's, allowing Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' future set up to succeed despite a move away from more compelling villains.