Although it was a reboot, Matt Reeves' Planet of the Apes trilogy differed significantly from the original sci-fi franchise. Starting with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the trilogy explored the origins of the titular Planet of the Apes, showing how the apes evolved from normal primates to highly-intelligent beings able to overthrow civilization. While Caesar was the main focus of this trilogy, he died in the third film, meaning that the next entry in the series has room to tell a completely original story. As it turns out, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes may be straying farther from its predecessors than many realize.

Planet Of The Apes 4 Could Explore Human Wastelands

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball recently posted a video to Twitter celebrating that shooting on the film had wrapped. While exciting, what's even more exciting is the story that this video may have confirmed. In the video, a slate can be seen that reveals the fourth Planet of the Apes film used the production title Forbidden Zone. In the universe of Planet of the Apes, forbidden zones are areas designated by apes as dangerous. However, these areas often hold a major secret, as many of Planet of the Apes' forbidden zones are actually human wastelands.

Forbidden zones can be ruined cities, radioactive wastelands, or even crashed spaceships, as is the case with the Calima forbidden zone in the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake. With the Simian Flu having wiped most of the humans out by War for the Planet of the Apes, it may finally be time for the apes to venture into these remains of human civilizations. The apes sometimes call these ruins "archeological sites," with these exciting new settings potentially highlighting entirely unseen human stories within the franchise's universe.

Forbidden Zones Also Hint At Another Planet Of The Apes Storyline

While Forbidden Zones are most often human wastelands, there is also another storyline that this production title could be hinting at. Beneath the Planet of the Apes is the second entry in the original series, and it introduced a new species to the series: mutants. These mutated humans are a huge aspect of Planet of the Apes that haven't been introduced to the reboot series yet, and it could finally happen in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

The mutants could also be substituted by another antagonist group in the film: feral humans. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will feature humans that have returned to their primal instincts due to the effect of the Simian Flu, with their symptoms only getting worse since the previous film. These feral humans could easily take the place of the mutants' roles in the story, with this seeming pretty likely. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Forbidden Zone production title is incredibly exciting, hinting that these fantastic storylines may finally appear.

Source: Twitter