It is genuinely pretty hard to believe that the last Planet of the Apes movie came out in 2017 — it feels like it was practically yesterday that Matt Reeves wrapped up the trilogy that Rupert Wyatt started in 2011 — but alas, six years have elapsed for all of us. It’s been even longer in the Planet of the Apes universe, though: In Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes — which most people weren’t even aware was shooting all throughout last year — decades have elapsed since Caesar was experimented on by James Franco, and the apes now, in fact, properly rule the world. But a new dictator has risen to power on Ape-Planet, and looks to exact harsh justice in Harambe’s name. Or just do bad shit, as shown in this brand new teaser for the film, which our protagonist will have to prevent.
Right before we share it, though, we have a question: Did Harambe join the ape army? After all, the point-of-divergence from our timeline in the Apes‘ timeline happened in, like, 2013 or so, which means he never got shot by those folks at the Cincinnati Zoo. Somebody has to have written a garish fanfic about this very possibility, right?
Anyhow, that’s enough brain cells churned for today. Take a look:
Here’s a synopsis:
“Director Wes Ball breathes new life into the global, epic, franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, 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 hits theaters on May 24. We hyped, but we’re still waiting for Zombie Fox to take full advantage of The Simpsons catalog and greenlight a feature-length live-action adaptation of Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off! before we all get imprisoned by our new ape overlords.