Planet of the Apes Comic Answers Big Question About Original Movie

Marvel’s Beware the Planet of the Apes introduces a new wrinkle to the franchise mythology.

Full spoilers for Marvel’s Beware the Planet of the Apes! This week Marvel Comics published Beware the Planet of the Apes #4, the final issue of the new series and one set in the same continuity of the original Planet of the Apes movie franchise from the 1960s and 1970s. A major addition to the lore of Planet of the Apes was made in the first issue when it revealed a new civilization not too far away from Ape City which is The Hominidae Empire, buried deep in The Forbidden Zone. With the final issue of the series now here though, the story has come to a close and added an even bigger retcon to the original movie.

The majority of Beware the Planet of the Apes has been about original series characters Zira and Cornelius and their search for their nephew Lucius, held captive by The Hominidae Empire. Zira and Cornelius not only learn about the existence of The Hominidae Empire but also Hope’s Point, a colony of mutants that live on the surface rather than in the tunnels below the ground (as seen in Beneath the Planet of the Apes). With the aid of that mutant Leader Ivana and her soldiers, Zira and Cornelius are able to stage an attacked on The Hominidae Empire to not only rescue Lucius but to stop them from attacking Ape City.

Using her telepathic abilities, which makes the power of suggestion very powerful, Ivana is able to pacify the gorillas of The Hominidae Empire and allow for the gibbons that they’ve made their slaves to gain control. After the threat is over though, Ivana makes the choice to protect her people from Ape City by erasing Zira, Cornelius, and Lucius’s memories of Hope’s Point, but with a twist. Though the trio of chimp scientists no longer remember what occurred in the pages of Beware the Planet of the Apes, but Ivana has built an understanding in their minds that humans are not inherently evil, but also that The Forbidden Zone is aptly named. As the page in the comic reveals, this influenced the way Zira and Cornelius responded to Taylor in the events of the original Planet of the Apes, but Ivana revealed that one person in the room didn’t have their mind wiped, the mute Nova. 

Since Marvel Comics regained the publishing rights to new Planet of the Apes comics, they’ve released just two new Planet of the Apes series. In addition to the just completed Beware the Planet of the Apes, Marvel released a series that was set in the timeline of the modern-era Planet of the Apes movies, just four years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes and six years before Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. In addition Marvel has reprinted their classic Planet of the Apes comics in new collections. No further plans have been confirmed by Marvel about what they’ll do with the Planet of the Apes comic license, but with a new film just months out it’s likely the series won’t be dormant long.