Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Ending Explained

Let’s make this simple: You want to know if there are any post or mid-credits scenes in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The answer is there are not but there is … something. FULL SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Planet of the Apes film franchise is 56 years old and with the latest entry, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, now in theaters, it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Director Wes Ball has said Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the start of a new trilogy and it does indeed close with a clear set-up for a sequel. So let’s break down this film’s ending and post-credits hint and mull where the filmmakers could take the sci-fi simian saga next.

If you don’t want to know what happens in the film then use your stinkin’ paws to bookmark this page and come back to read it after you’ve seen the movie, you damn dirty ape!

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Ending ExplainedOne major reveal is that Nova (played by Freya Allan) is anything but feral and voiceless – and her name’s not Nova! (There’s a joke in the film that “Nova” is what the apes call every human female but they don’t know why. It’s a nod to both the young mute female Nova from 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes, who was befriended by Andy Serkis’ Caesar, and the character Nova from the original 1968 film.)

Nova is, in fact, Mae, and she is not among the mute, primitive humans whom the Apes have dubbed “echoes” (i.e., they are but an echo of what humans once were). Mae was part of a group of other similar humans who were attacked by the soldiers of ape ruler Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand).

Mae is the sole survivor of a group of humans out to reach the destination Proximus has made his base: a former US military site on the shore of the West Coast. (It appears to be the Coronado Bay area of Southern California.) Mae has been shadowing the main protagonist Noa (Owen Teague) so that she can swipe food or a blanket from the young ape and flee.

Proximus knows what Mae knows: that within the vaulted doors of the base are human technology and weaponry that will help him develop ape society more rapidly. (The apes are basically in their Bronze Age period in this film.) Proximus seeks to establish a kingdom for his apes with himself as their king – their new Caesar, whose centuries-old teachings he has twisted to fit his quest for power and glory.

Mae doesn’t want Proximus to acquire this human tech. While she is allied with Noa, we eventually learn Mae wants humans to resume their position as the dominant species on Earth. After gaining the aid of Noa and his companions Soona and Anaya to sneak her inside the base – in exchange for helping to free their clan who have been captured by Proximus – Mae finds what she’s been looking for: a hard drive of encrypted military information. (More on that soon.)

While she’s searching for that, Noa, Soona, and Anaya discover some children’s books in what appears to be a daycare facility or classroom for children. They look through one kids book that depicts pre-apocalypse chimps behind bars at a zoo, demeaning images that disturb the trio.

Things quickly deteriorate once Mae gets the hard drive and the vault doors open. Proximus and his soldiers are outside and quickly storm in and overpower them. During a standoff between Proximus and Noa, Mae shoots and kills one of Proximus’ guards with a revolver. Proximus reminds Noa that humans can’t be trusted right before Mae runs off to trigger the explosives she and the apes had laid out the night before.

The explosives destroy the sea wall, letting the Pacific Ocean flood into the base, carrying off apes both friendly and enemy. Noa and his surviving clan apes escape to the roof and adjacent cliffside. But before they can climb down the cliffside, Proximus appears and savagely beats Noa.

Proximus demands that Noa submit to him before he slays him. Noa begins to sing his clan’s song for the eagles they raise – a song mentioned but not yet heard in the film – and his fellow clan members join in. Proximus doesn’t understand until he is attacked by several eagles beckoned by their song. The eagles overwhelm Proximus, who falls off the cliff to his apparent demise in the ocean hundreds of feet below.

How to Watch the Planet of the Apes Movies in (Chronological) OrderThe film then jumps forward some weeks in the future. The Eagle Clan apes are rebuilding their village and trying to restore life to normal. Noa is emerging as the natural successor to his slain father, the former leader of the clan. Noa is surprised by an unannounced visitor: Mae. She and Noa exchange words about what happened at the base. Noa says Proximus was right, that humans will never rest until everything is theirs again and apes return to silence.

The audience notices that Mae is holding a revolver behind her back, acknowledging that Noa is right not to trust the person he’d previously risked so much for. They part ways and Mae rides off on her horse across the landscape until she arrives at another former US government facility.

The site opens its doors to Mae. A worker in a hazmat suit emerges, takes the hard drive from Mae, and allows her to enter. This site is a fully staffed and functional base with power, resources, and military hardware. The drive that Mae obtained is one of a set of three identical drives. They appear to operate as keys to a long-dormant satellite array above ground. Mae told Noa that she sought a “book” that would allow humans to speak again. This is what she meant.

The satellites power up and a technician sends a call asking if anyone else is out there. They quickly receive a reply from another base of humans elsewhere. The underground human resistance groups are now in contact with each other.

The Apes franchise has always pondered whether humans and evolved apekind can coexist. The ending of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes suggests that a violent conflict is looming in the next two films to determine which will reign as Earth’s dominant species.

Does Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Have Any Post-Credits Scenes?While there isn’t a post-credits scene per se, there is a nice clue at the very end of the film. Similar to how Dawn of the Planet of the Apes had a post-credits audio cue that hinted Koba might have survived (it turns out he didn’t although he appears as a vision to Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has a post-credit audio cue that suggests one of its presumed dead characters may still be alive.

After the end credits finish rolling, we hear the sounds of an ape over a black screen. These murmurings sure sound a lot like Raka (played by Peter Macon), the thoughtful orangutan who helped Noa and Mae on their journey. Raka appeared to have perished in a river along the way.

Raka is the only one who still understands Caesar’s teachings of decency, morality, and strength. He has a trove of old books and while he can’t read them, he understands their value and that they were a means for humans to communicate ideas.

Raka told Noa about Caesar, a long-dead figure the young chimp is unfamiliar with, and his teachings. Like Caesar, Raka preaches tolerance and peace with humans. Before he apparently drowns, Raka gives Noa his medallion and urges him to follow the example of Caesar. Noa kept the medallion with him for the rest of the film.

The symbol on the medallion is a callback to the Caesar trilogy. That shape was first seen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes as the window in Caesar’s childhood bedroom and he later etched it while in captivity. It later appears in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. While the symbol evoked freedom in the Caesar trilogy, Proximus has, as he has also done with Caesar’s teachings, perverted it to use as another means to dominate his fellow apes.

If that is the sound of Raka in the post-credits and not Proximus Caesar (whose survival seems unlikely given the height of his fall) it suggests that Raka and Noa may have their beliefs challenged in the next films.

Will Raka still believe apes and humans can coexist in peace after he learns of Mae’s betrayal or if war breaks out between apes and humans? Like Professor X and Magneto, might Raka and Noa find themselves bitterly opposed in how to deal with humans? We’ll have to wait a few years to find out.

Let us know in the comments what you thought of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, its ending and post-credits audio cue, and what you think might happen in the sequels.

For more monkey business, read IGN’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes review, watch our epic interview with the cast and director Wes Ball. find out how to watch Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and learn about the “raw version” of the movie that will be included in the home video release.

Jesse Schedeen contributed to this report.