How Caesar's legacy hangs over Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

When we talk about why the Planet of the Apes franchise is still alive and kicking nearly 60 years after it first started, we have to talk about Andy Serkis as Caesar. The British actor's innovation and expertise in the field of motion-capture helped the series move beyond prosthetics and make-up — which, though impressive, can't help but date badly — and into a new digital frontier.

Audiences saw Caesar break free of human captivity in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and, by the time of the sequels, he fought valiantly to retain some sort of peace between the now-dominant apes and the flu-ravaged humans. He was the franchise's most sympathetic and complex lead.

So with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes reviving the series — seven years after War for the Planet of the Apes — and flying high at the box office, does Caesar still have a role to play? First, let's refresh our memory of what happened to Caesar last time we saw him.

What happened to Caesar in Planet of the Apes?

Throughout the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy, Caesar repeatedly pushed for a society in which apes and humans could live without conflict. But by the time of War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar's chances seemed remote.

Indeed, that film concluded with Caesar dying after being shot by a member of a human militia. He was survived by his son Cornelius, with the promise that future ape generations would know about his sacrifice and his ideas.

Read more: When will Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes be out on Disney+? (Yahoo Entertainment)

Is Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes movie?

Caesar is actually the first character we see in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The movie begins with the ape leader's funeral before flashing forward into the future — around 300 years, according to Empire — to see how ape society has moved on over time.

Read more: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review: a decent romp but the monkey business wears a bit thin (Evening Standard)

The teachings of Caesar certainly do echo through the new world of apes, but not quite in the way that he would've hoped. The movie's megalomaniacal villain (Kevin Durand) calls himself Proximus Caesar, reflecting an obsession with stories of Ancient Rome as well as a desire to cast himself as Caesar's successor. His gorilla goons routinely shout "for Caesar" when attacking other clans.

It's clear that Proximus is really anything but an heir to Caesar, presiding over a cult devoted to accelerating ape evolution and hunting humans to extinction.

Caesar's true teachings are embodied by the softly-spoken orangutan Raka (Peter Macon), who is the last remaining member of a clan known as 'The Order of Caesar'. He's a scholar of the past with a library of books — he says they're "an ancient way of storing ideas" — and in-depth knowledge of Caesar's time.

Watch: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball on the franchise's future

Raka allies with the new ape protagonist Noa (Owen Teague) and one of the few remaining humans, Mae (Freya Allan), in an attempt to rescue Noa's family from Proximus' clutches. In Raka, the true teachings of Caesar continue to echo through the franchise.

Just as keen viewers have always been able to find Planet of the Apes easter eggs throughout the franchise, this new era won't be forgetting its past. Caesar and Serkis left too big a footprint to ignore.

Read more: Avatar 2 paved the way for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes with ground-breaking CGI (BANG Showbiz)

Is Noa related to Caesar in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?

As far as we know, there's no family link between Noa and Caesar. The new movie takes place "many generations" after Caesar's death, with no indication that Noa is a direct descendant. We meet Noa's mother and father, who are among the elders of an ape clan built around rearing eagles.

Of course, there's every chance that future movies in the franchise — director Wes Ball has plenty of ideas — will uncover a more explicit link between Noa and his predecessor as our ape protagonist. It wouldn't be the first time this series has given us a plot twist for the ages, after all.

Read more: Owen Teague spent weeks walking like an ape after Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Yahoo Entertainment)

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is out now in cinemas.