Every now and then,. If you are regular readers of MiscelAna, I reveal nostalgia and age. I’m from the time when Planet of the Apes was a TV series and the films had caused a sensation in cinemas, especially the 1968 feature, with Charlton Heston and that iconic ending.

Due to less impactful special effects, the franchise gradually became associated with crude films, not even Tim Burton‘s remake in 2001 rescued its prestige. What changed was the advancement of technology, used brilliantly in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, fans of the original and who had the creativity (and talent) to reinvent the entire story, now with technology which is perfect for giving realism to the story.

In the current version, there is no time travel, but the effect of human greed mixed with the advancement of science. Andy Serkis, who already made Lord of the Rings innovative with his Gollum, did an incredible job as Caesar, the chimpanzee whose intelligence increased in a laboratory, created by a human and leader of the revolution. A complex character who is the protagonist of the franchise, not the antagonist of humans.

With the gigantic success at the box office, came the sequels with Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, where the plot advances 10 years and follows Caesar’s nation of evolved apes and, finally, War for The Planet of the Apes.

Now, two years after the battle in San Francisco, humans and apes are enemies, and Caesar is hunted by the human “Alpha-Omega” militia, who kill Cornelia, Caesar’s wife, and Blue Eyes, his firstborn, with only Cornelius surviving. The fight between the two sides is much more personal for Caesar who, unfortunately, ends up dying after saving the monkeys. We then arrive at the new film, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is about to premiere in cinemas.

Without Andy Serkis, the cast now where, “many years after Caesar’s reign, a young ape embarks on a journey that will lead him to question everything he has been taught about the past and to make choices that will define the future of apes and humans”. There is so much mystery surrounding who they are that we don’t have everyone’s names yet. Starring Owen Teague, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon and William H. Macy, the biggest mystery revolves around Freya Allan‘s character, Mae, who will be crucial to the next trilogy.

Jumping forward several generations after Caesar puts the classic version of the original films (and book) in perspective: apes are the dominant species. However, the ambitions of their new leader, the tyrannical Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), arouse the opposition of a young monkey Noa (Owen Teague) – who I suspect is Caesar’s direct heir, but it is not yet clear – who begins to question everything who knew about the past of his species, and his choices will define everyone’s future.

Noa tries to live up to her father’s expectations, but is uncomfortable with being forbidden to learn about the world beyond her village, the history of the human race, and what really happened. Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham) are his friends, and help Nova (Freya Allan), a human who is more intelligent than the rest and who is the target of Proximus’s wrath. The new emperor is obsessed with learning the technology, history and communications developed by humans, only to destroy and dominate them once and for all.

Freya’s presence in the cast is good news, with her having stood out as Ciri in The Witcher, but now arriving in theaters. Nova is the best human representative in many years in the franchise and her origin will also be important, so it has not yet been clarified.

The film’s trailer was a huge hit during the Super Bowl halftime show and the images are full of quotes from the 1968 film. Will we find out more before May?

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