Should Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes end the franchise?

This has to be one of the strangest enduring phenomena in pop culture planet of monkeys. It exists in its original form as a short book, as a film series, as an animated series, as a Mark Wahlberg remake, and as a now much better Andy Serkis vehicle. But his legacy is full of pitfalls. How did the latest series weather the storm and then move on?

For the most part, history has a lasting legacy. But can the latest series avoid the problems of its predecessors, or will it continue? Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes until it crashes into the ground? Is that even possible considering how positively it changed the franchise?

The Planet of the Apes franchise continues to expand

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Release date

May 24, 2024

director

Wes Ball

Pour

Freya Allan, Dichen Lachman, Kevin Durand, Owen Teague, William H. Macy, Peter Macon

Main genre

action

Studio

Disney Studios Australia, Twentieth Century Fox

One of the most interesting aspects of Andy Serkis’ planet of monkeys is that they chose to start from patient zero. While the original series started with the planetary creature [decades old spoiler alert] Discovered hundreds of years after the apes took over, we were thrown right into the mix.

These days, viewers love a good origin story, so the producers decided to start at the beginning – a perfect place to start. So we got to see Caesar, the first ape to achieve a higher IQ and the father of the entire wave of intelligent apes that would eventually arrive. We see how Caesar was born, the circumstances of his childhood, and his eventual rise to consciousness and power. The following films depicted the decline of humanity and the rise of apes as the dominant force in society.

Related: How ‘Planet of the Apes’ is primed for a big return

The latest film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the world sees many generations after Caesar’s death. The remaining humans have become wild and animalistic, while the apes have formed various clans that wage war with each other. A clan led by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand) attempts to find the last remnants of human technology while learning to enslave other apes.

A young ape, Noa (Owen Teague), decides to leave society, bringing with her a young human woman named Mae (Freya Allan). Their quest and the rise of this new society form the basis for this new chapter in the life of the planet.

However, the question is: what happens next?

There is an urge to keep going

Every studio wants to make sure they keep each property with the most traction possible The Planet of the Apes, an estate that has existed in some form since Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel. But now that Disney owns what was once 20th Century Fox, the company finds itself in a strange but not unique position. Disney is now the proud owner of several beloved properties, two of which have already fallen into disrepair. The Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars universe have been in freefall over the past decade, with Disney pushing for more and more content, diluting both brands.

With that in mind, will they do the same with this one? If not, the idea of ​​what it means to dilute a brand is called into question. For example, if they continue making films, they could be the rare example of a great series that continues to find capable writers and directors to move the story forward at the right pace. There is nothing to say that the series should end with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Instead, they might assume that the end of the series is when the original series began. The monkeys see a ship falling from the sky. That would be a fascinating conclusion to a successful series. Maybe one or even two more films are needed for this Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

However, if they decided to just end it now, what harm would it cause? They created a successful franchise that came to a perfectly reasonable ending and gave it the send-off it deserves. Bravo.

Or, if Disney gets too deep into the process, it could call for a Disney+ spinoff, a series of shampoo examples, and a tabletop collector’s edition book just in time for Christmas. However, if they can sit back and just let the films unfold, we might be fine, and die-hard fans will continue to encourage others to visit or even revisit the series.

Let the audience decide when the franchise should end

Ultimately, it may be up to the audience to determine what comes next. The more we demand content, the more studios believe they have to make more. But if audiences decide that these films should end with the monkeys seeing a crashing spaceship in the distance, tying them in perfectly to the original series, then that’s a no-brainer.

Related: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Plot, Cast and Everything Else We Know

So the question remains what the audience wants. They were very happy to revisit this world in all its forms as these creatures learn and grow as a society. It’s fascinating to see not just a film about the end of the world, but one that is actually about the beginning of a new film. The open question is always whether their society will be better than ours or whether they will fall into the same traps.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes seems to say that they will indeed fall into similar traps. But knowing what we know about Caesar’s dream and the corruption of that dream, this society may feel doomed even before it begins. It’s also a look at the arc of our own society, and that’s why we want them to succeed in some way, even if we already know how it’s all going to turn out. Or is it? Maybe we’ll have to wait to find out.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be in cinemas from May 24, 2024.