Why Cornelius leading Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the perfect direction for the franchise
The Planet of the Apes franchise will see the release of its long-awaited sequel with the upcoming premiere of the Kingdom of Planet of the Apes. While the movie will serve as the direct sequel to 2017’s War of the Planet of the Apes, a range of changes have been made in a bid to push the franchise towards a new direction.
First and foremost, the events in the upcoming movie will take place 300 years after those in the previous one. This most notably means that Caesar’s story with respect to the Planet of the Apes franchise has come to an end, although he will continue playing a huge part in the upcoming movie as well.
Seen as the obvious inspiration behind the Apes' struggle, Caesar was effectively the species’ first intellectual and fought for a peaceful co-existence between human beings and apes. That is set to change, with his family seemingly being killed off off-screen in the 300 years that have passed by with respect to the events of The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
His only biological survivor is in the form of Cornelius, who will be Caesar’s son in the franchise. Thus, it is only natural that he leads this sequel. However, the biological connection seems to be the only similarity that he shares with his ancestor.
Cornelius expected to steer Kingdom of the Planet of Apes to a new direction
Fans on Reddit were quick to talk about the obvious changes the future of the series is set to undergo. While Proximus Cornelius is an ambitious monarch leading an army of apes, the trailers suggest that his thinking and ideals will be completely polar to those of Caesar.
This means that Cornelius will be plotting a world where apes can dominate human beings, and might even have more sinister plans in store. The change in direction sets up the new franchise aptly. It will see an apes’ rebellion being headed by Cornelius amidst a backdrop of characters still heavily inspired by Caesar’s teachings.
Hence, while Caesar’s own son might see the world differently, new characters such as Noa and Mae, a human woman, will be seen pushing for peaceful coexistence between the two species. While in some ways, the protagonist for the movie will be Noa, Cornelius is expected to play a major role, and based on a Reddit post on the r/PlanetoftheApes subreddit, it seems as if Cornelius has himself generated a mixed response from fans.
A few users talked about how they had nothing to appreciate the character for thus far, as he has nothing in common with Caesar except the biological connection. Others talked about how the new movie is bound to excite prospective viewers.
Meanwhile, some are already imagining how Cornelius’ ideals and approach will be tied to Noa.
One fan theorized how the two characters might end up marrying, although that might result in an anti-climactic conclusion to the obvious clash of opinions between them. Regardless, with only a matter of days left, it is clear that the creators have opted for an obvious change in direction, and are hoping that fans will fall in love with the new characters just as easily as they did with Caesar.
Of course, for that to happen, Cornelius might have to back up his disagreements with Caesar’s teachings in a profound, characteristic manner.