Yesterday saw the release of the first teaser trailer for 20th Century Studios' Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The sneak peek left fans with plenty to discuss, with the prevailing theory being that the franchise's new lead is Caesar's son, Cornelius.
Some official stills from the movie have since been released, confirming the identities of at least some of Kingdom's leads.
Cornelius, for example, is actually Owen Teague's Noa. As for the armour-clad villain, it's Kevin Durand as Proximus Caesar, presumably a descendant of the original Caesar or an ape who has decided to take on his name due to the fact he's leading his people. The other orangutan pictured below is Peter Macon as Raka.
Finally, we can also confirm Freya Allan's human character is named Mae. None of these names are linked to the wider Planet of the Apes mythos, so they've all been newly created for this story. We are getting closer to the original movie's timeline, but it doesn't appear this continuation of the franchise is in any rush to get there.
"Director Wes Ball (The Maze Runner) breathes new life into the global, epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign," reads the synopsis, "in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows."
"As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike."
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes stars Owen Teague (IT), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), Peter Macon (Shameless), and William H. Macy (Fargo).
The screenplay is by Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds) and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (Avatar: The Way of Water) and Patrick Aison (Prey), based on characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver.
Producers include Wes Ball, Joe Hartwick, Jr. (The Maze Runner), Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Jason Reed (Mulan), with Peter Chernin (Planet of the Apes) and Jenno Topping (Ford v. Ferrari) serving as executive producers.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a new entry in 20th Century Studios' global, epic franchise, opens exclusively in theaters on May 24, 2024. You can check out these new stills from the movie in the gallery below.