This weekend, the Planet of the Apes returns with a brand new entry titled Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. While it’s unclear where the franchise will go next, in a recent interview with THR writers/producers Rick Jaffa/Amanda Silver revealed that they originally planned to make NINE total films.
With Kingdom being the fourth film, that means fans can expect five more visits to this universe – barring any missteps or bad box office returns, of course.
Because the possibilities are endless, I thought it might fun to pitch some ideas for stories that would be fun to see next. Most have nothing to do with Caesar, Noa, or the storyline introduced in Kingdom, but they do all prove the versatility of the franchise and how far Disney could take the series.
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Here is where I think the Planet of the Apes franchise should go next:
Invasion of the Planet of the Apes
Since the original 1968 film, the series has chronicled the relationship between man and ape. But what if a third race was introduced? At its core, the Planet of the Apes franchise is pure science fiction. What better way to truly lean into the genre than by introducing one of its oldest elements: aliens.
PICTURE THIS: A random alien species stumbles upon Earth in ruins. Using its advanced technology, it begins to aggressively terraform. As a result, any existing apes and humans are killed or enslaved. In a surprising twist, apes and humans must team up to fight the aliens before they both losE their planet for good.
Now, that’s just a story with random aliens. Can you imagine what Disney could do if it used intergalactic characters it owns?
Alien vs Predator vs The Planet of the Apes
That’s where the idea for Alien vs Predator vs Planet of the Apes came from.
While fans have been clamoring for another Alien vs Predator film for years, it would be a cinematic dream to see the primates from the Planet of the Apes shoehorned in there as well. Now that Disney owns all three franchises, there’s no reason for it not to happen.
PICTURE THIS: A Predator crash lands on Earth after killing a Xenomorph. Unbeknownst to the Predator, the alien managed to lay a few eggs on the ship. As the Predator sets out to find parts to repair its ship, the eggs hatch. Facehuggers invade a nearby Ape clan, where many more baby Xenomorphs are bred. Some apes escape, but not before coming in contact with the Predator. From this point on, the apes find themselves in the crosshairs of both creatures’ bloody battle. The rest of the film follows the apes as they search for a way eliminate both threats so that they could back to living in peace.
Admittedly, this isn’t the first time someone has thought of this idea. A quick Google search will also reveal some cool concept art. But this isn’t the first time Disney has done such an ambitious crossover. Just last year, the Predator had a pretty gnarly showdown with Wolverine.
That’s not the only cool crossover I’d like to see.
Survivors of the Planet of the Apes
One notable thing the current Planet of the Apes films do is they constantly introduce us to new human characters. But what would happen if some of them met each other. Better yet, what if they were ALL connected?
PICTURE THIS (AND PLEASE BARE WITH ME): This story would take place during Caesar’s trilogy – just before the third film – and would explore more of what it would be like to try to survive the ongoing plague and impending war. I imagine that James Franco’s character from Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be dead, so Freida Pinto’s character would be the protagonist. She would be locked away in a bunker with a bunch of other survivors including Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee’s characters from Dawn. Just as supplies begin to run low, the arrival of a mysterious stranger sparks hope for a potential cure. But here’s the twist: the stranger is Mark Wahlberg’s character from Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes! Somehow he managed to escape that timeline in a spaceship and he’s now in the new one. But aboard that spaceship is futuristic medicine that could help bring humans back to the top of the evolutionary ladder.
See, the multiverse can work with this franchise too! If you still don’t believe me, then perhaps the next pitch will…
The MARVELous Planet of the Apes
Now, Marvel Studios is obviously known for its human heroes, but there is one ape character that has become quite popular over the last few years: Hit Monkey.
Most recently, the character received an adult animated series on Hulu. While it’s still going, I have a personal theory that Marvel is just gearing up to bring the character to its live-action Cinematic Universe. In fact, I suspect the character may even debut in the upcoming film Deadpool & Wolverine!
But if Marvel is still interested in doing multiversal stuff with more characters post Deadpool & Wolverine, I think it would be cool to have Hit Monkey show up in a Planet of the Apes movie.
PICTURE THIS: Hit Monkey is in the MCU contracted to kill a mad scientist, when the scientist tricks him and traps him in a machine that sends him to the the apes universe. Originally consumed by revenge and confusion, Hit Monkey actually begins to like it there. He even starts a family. But his presence in this timeline isn’t without consequence. When a group of superheroes from the TVA finds him and tries to capture him, they actually kill his family. Forced to run, Hit Monkey once again becomes consumed by vengeance. And he finds himself reverting back to his own ways – even as the timeline he lives in literally begins to rip apart.
The more I think about this movie, the more I would actually like to see it. It’s just another example of what Disney could do if it dared to crossover some of its popular franchises. But enough with crossovers. What if the franchise leaned into other genres?
Princess of the Planet of the Apes
Disney is arguably most known for its diverse lineup of princesses. That being said, would it be too weird to add an ape princess to the mix?
PICTURE THIS: A straight-up romance set within the current franchise. As of the last film, we saw that the world is divided by different factions and clans of apes. So what if we follow a different “kingdom” with a female ruler who is trying to find a suitable mate. She goes around finding true love, and stumbles upon it one day…with a human.
Keep in mind that this might not be the strangest thing to happen in a Planet of the Apes film. I mean, look at the image above. However, I do think that it might be humorous to explore what an intimate relationship could look like between the two races.
There’s just so much that has not been explored in the films. That brings me to my next pitch:
History of the Planet of the Apes
For this film, I imagine a complete visual Bible of all the major events that have happened and that we have not seen since the end of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Sure, most of that info is shown/told to us in the prologue of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and characters constantly talk about how the world ended in each film, but I think it would be fascinating to learn of other important figures in this world. Surely, Caesar can’t be the only one, right?
PICTURE THIS: A series of short vignettes showcasing how the apes came to control the world. Through this series of shorts, we learn who set the rest of the apes around the world free, how apes learn to deal with their newfound power and why some groups (like Noa’s clan in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) decided to turn their back on Caesar’s teachings.
If done right, I think this would not only be an informative story for the franchise, but it would be essential at laying the foundation for its future too.
Horror of the Planet of the Apes
The plot of 28 Days Later is extremely similar to Planet of the Apes because it involves a simian virus that kills much of humanity. The only major difference is that in 28 Days Later the dead come back to life.
But what if that were too happen in the current Planet of the Apes timeline? We already know that the virus can mutate. That was shown in War of the Planet of the Apes when the strain forced humans to stop speaking and become more primitive.
PICTURE THIS: The virus mutates again, but causes humans and apes alike to become undead!
Admittedly, I don’t have much more to pitch than that. I imagine this film being a version of Dawn of the Dead – but with apes. A small group of apes is holed up somewhere trying to come to terms with the fact that their time as the dominant species is over.
So far, in the modern Planet of the Apes film, one of the core themes is apes coming to terms with their new place in the world. So I think it would be fascinating to see how they might cope with a potential expiration date. Might they empathize with humans more?
That brings me to my final pitch.
End of the Planet of the Apes
At the end of the day, both apes and humans are mortal. As some of the other examples in this article have proven, there are some elements that neither group could control – especially the end of the world.
PICTURE THIS: Centuries after Caesar has passed, apes and humans finally learn to co-exist peacefully. But an asteroid headed towards earth threatens to end it all. As a result, a group of ape and human scientists agree to man a space ship for the first time in a long time to try and blow it up before all time is up.
Yes, this is MIchael Bay’s Armageddon with apes. Don’t let the name fool you though. This doesn’t have to be the last Apes film. Depending on the outcome, it could very well be the start to a whole new trilogy.
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What are some scenarios and stories you’d like to see told within this franchise? Sound off below!
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