Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes Debuts A Dangerous Franchise First

Apes together are strong, but as revealed in the "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" teaser trailer, they are also now more advanced and packing firepower we've never seen them wield. Following the reign of the rifle-ready Caesar, it seems that Wes Ball's venture into the iconic franchise will upgrade and arm the next generation of intelligent apes with weapons not even seen in the original era of the franchise.

Shown a minute into the teaser, a gorilla is wielding what looks like a primitive shock stick-like weapon and is about to use it on the franchise's new hero, Noa (Owen Teague). The tip seems to be made from a crystal of some kind and packs quite a punch for whoever it's used on. It feels less of a leap ahead and more of a sideways step from the type of weaponry we last saw this now superior species use in "War for the Planet of the Apes," what with Caesar chucking grenades and having used his fair share of firearms during his time as leader.

Understandably, while humanity has descended into a lesser state due to the Simian Flu, their knowledge and capability have gone with them. Be that as it may, this all-new bit of 'tech' might suggest that Ball will fill a crucial gap that takes us to one of the franchise's most iconic landmarks.

Near the end of the trailer, we see what appears to be Noa visiting an ape city located by a beach, and anyone who knows their simians from their Caesars is familiar with one pivotal moment in "Planet of the Apes" history that takes place by the sea. It's at a sweeping shore that, in the original film, George Taylor damns them all to hell after learning that the alien planet he's crashed landed on is his own and apes have taken over. The world he knew is long gone, and humanity has slipped down the evolutionary chain, and there's no going back. However, the difference between the beach we see in the trailer and the one we first trotted down is that it was known as The Forbidden Zone to ape-kind, with its secrets lost to time. 

Could this potential pre-visit to the iconic spot reveal that before this area became forbidden, it was inhabited by apes who had harnessed primitive portions of tech, giving Kevin Durand's Proximus Caesar rule of the place? It could explain how Noa's attackers have harnessed this different kind of arsenal and even more reason for it to eventually be forbidden when Noa presumably defeats the film's big bad. We'll have to wait a little while to find out. "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" hits the silver screen on May 24, 2024.