Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

Many generations after Caesar's death, apes have established numerous clans, while most humans have become feral-esque. Noa, a young chimpanzee from a falconry-practicing clan, prepares for a coming-of-age ceremony by collecting eagle eggs with his friends Anaya and Soona. However, a human scavenger follows Noa home and inadvertently cracks his egg during a scuffle before fleeing. While searching for a replacement egg, Noa encounters a group of ape raiders using electric weapons. As Noa hides from them, the apes follow his horse back to his clan. Noa hurries home to find his village burning; the raider leader Sylva kills Noa's father Koro after dropping Noa from a high platform.

Left for dead, Noa awakens, discovering that his clan has been abducted. He buries Koro and sets out to rescue his clan. On his journey, he is joined by Raka, an orangutan who tells Noa about Caesar's teachings. The apes notice they are being followed by the human scavenger; Raka offers her food and a blanket, naming her Nova. When the trio encounters a group of feral humans, Sylva's raiders suddenly attack. Noa and Raka rescue Nova who, to their surprise, can speak. She reveals that her name is Mae and that the raiders took Noa's clan to a beachfront settlement outside an old human vault. As they cross a bridge on their way to the settlement, they are ambushed by Sylva. In the ensuing fight, Raka saves Mae from drowning but is swept away by the rapids. Noa and Mae are captured and taken to the apes' settlement.

Noa reunites with his clan and is introduced to the apes' self-proclaimed king, Proximus Caesar. Proximus has enslaved other clans, forcing them to work on opening the vault so he can access the human technology locked inside. Proximus invites Noa to dinner along with Mae and Trevathan, a human prisoner who is teaching Proximus about the old human world. Proximus believes that Noa's intelligence could help open the vault and warns him that Mae only has her own agenda. Noa confronts Mae, demanding the truth in exchange for his help. Mae discloses knowledge of a hidden entrance to the vault and says that a mysterious "book" capable of restoring speech to humanity is inside. Noa agrees to help her enter the vault, hoping to destroy Proximus' settlement and lead his clan back home. Noa, Mae, Soona, and Anaya secretly plant explosives around the levee that surrounds the settlement. Trevathan catches them and intends to warn Proximus, but Mae strangles him to death.

The group enters the vault, finding a stockpile of weapons and Mae's "book", which is actually a satellite deciphering key. The apes discover children's picture books depicting humans as the once-dominant species and apes in cages at a zoo. As the group makes their way out of the bunker, they are confronted by Proximus and his tribe. Lightning, one of Proximus' lieutenants, threatens to kill Soona, but Mae kills him with a gun she found before triggering the explosives, flooding the bunker with the apes inside. Mae flees the settlement while the apes climb to higher ground through the bunker. Noa is pursued by Sylva, but manages to trap and drown him. Noa escapes the bunker with his clan, but Proximus attacks him. Noa leads his clan in summoning their eagles to attack Proximus and send him falling off a cliff into the sea.

As Noa's clan returns to rebuild their home, Mae arrives to tensely bid farewell to Noa. She explains that she destroyed the bunker and prevented the apes from accessing its weapons because they were created by humans and thus should only be used by humans. Noa then argues that if weapons and technology are only for humans, it suggests that nothing belongs to the apes, questioning whether apes and humans can co-exist peacefully given Mae's fundamental disparity. As Noa takes Soona to look through a telescope he found on his journey, Mae travels to a human settlement at a satellite base, which is kept quarantined from the outside world. Mae delivers the decipher key, allowing the humans to reactivate the satellites and successfully contact other humans worldwide.