Summary

• The original ending of Planet of the Apes revealed that Nova was pregnant with Taylor's child, but this was cut from the film before the scene was shot.
• Nova's pregnancy was objected to by Charlton Heston, who played Taylor, causing the scene to be removed from the movie.
• The inclusion of Nova's pregnancy could have drastically changed the trajectory of the franchise, had it resulted in a different plot, or at least different ending, for the 1970 sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

The original ending to Planet of the Apes included a significant detail that ultimately did not make it into the film's final cut – though it did, several years later, make it into the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie, preserving the original revelation that future human woman Nova was pregnant with astronaut Taylor's child.

Adventures on the Planet of the Apes #5 – written by Doug Moench, with art by George Tuska, and ink by Mike Esposito and Tony Mortellaro – Despite being released several years after 1968's Apes, the issue includes a detail that would have proved gamechanging for the franchise, had it been included in the film.

This dialogue from Adventures remains as proof of the movie's original ending, which has been attested to by other sources, including an interview with Nova actress Linda Harrison from a 1998 issue of Ape Chronicles: The Official Planet of the Apes Fan Club magazine.

Nova's Pregnancy Was Cut From "Apes" At The Last Minute

According to Harrison's , as related to Ape Chronicles thirty years after the making of the film, Charlton Heston objected to the inclusion of Nova's pregnancy shortly before the scene was supposed to be shot. In retrospect, the romance between the two is one of Apes' more controversial aspects, as Nova is presented as, for all intents and purposes, an animal, despite having the appearance of an adult human woman. Harrison herself explained to the magazine how her perspective on Nova's intellect informed her performance:

Nova had no understanding what they were talking about, she had no power, nor did she feel it was her place to know. If Nova were a dog, don't you think a dog would be reacting the same way?

A reprint the previously released Planet of the Apes #5, Adventures #5 retains the originally intended dialogue, as Zira reveals to Taylor that Nova, previously thought ill, is in fact carrying his child. The stranded astronaut reacts in the next with shock – and then, in the after that, shifts to being pleased, quipping: "...so you see, Doctor, I'm not an altogether different breed from here." Though this bore no narrative fruit in subsequent Marvel Planet of the Apes comics, it is an artifact of the original filmmakers intentions, up through the shooting draft of the script.

Nova And Taylor's Offspring Would Have Changed The Franchise

Currently, Marvel Comics is publishing a prequel set immediately before the original film, Beware the Planet of the Apes, which is set to elucidate the untold backstory of Nova – and perhaps, prove her to be more human than previously realized. The series is also integrating art directly from the 1970s Apes adaptation, and while it is unlikely Marvel will make Nova's pregnancy canon, it's worth considering how radically such a thing would, or previously come have, altered the trajectory of the franchise.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the 1970 sequel to the original film, ended with the tragic deaths of Nova and Taylor, and the obliteration of the entire Earth. Had the film included their child, it is possible its ending, and as a result subsequent sequels, could have been very different. Similarly, were the comic to have diverged from the films by following through on Nova's pregnancy, Marvel's original Planet of the Apes line of comics would have changed dramatically as well. Though it was the appropriate decision to omit this plot detail, it hasn't been erased from history entirely.

Source: Ape Chronicles: The Official Planet of the Apes Fan Club