After nearly 50 years the prequel trilogy of films that ended in 2017.
Marvel Comics has a long history of acquiring the rights to movie and television franchises, making new comic stories from beloved classics. While Planet of Apes has had many comics adaptations since the original movies premiered in the 1960s, Marvel's adaptations in the 1970s were some of the most well-received. The original Planet of the Apes films, adapted from the 1963 novel La Planète Des Dinges from French author Pierre Boulle, ended after five films, The final movie in the original series, 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes, finally see the leader of the apes Caesar recognizing the destructive cycle of oppression between the humans and apes, leading to a far future where the two species coexist.
In the Planet of the Apes franchise has had around the world, while also naming the deep history Marvel has with the apes. In 1974 Marvel began publishing black-and-white comics adaptations of the original films as well as new stories in the universe, before publishing full color adaptations of the first two Planet of the Apes films in 1975. Marvel's new Planet of the Apes comics will feature new stories, collections, and reprints, and while the publisher has yet to announce full creative teams for the series, Marvel did release a gorgeous teaser cover from Salvador Larocca:
Today, Marvel Entertainment announced the PLANET OF THE APES franchise is returning to Marvel Comics with all-new stories starting in early 2023! The legendary science fiction franchise has spanned over five decades with media including comics, books, films, television series, video games, and toys.
Marvel Comics and PLANET OF THE APES have a deep history that goes back over 40 years. Marvel first published PLANET OF THE APES stories in 1974, and in 1975, Marvel published ADVENTURES ON THE PLANET OF THE APES, full-color adaptations of the iconic Planet of the Apes films.
Larocca's gorgeous cover, featuring a gleefully violent looking ape on a horse as two nearly naked humans appear to run in terror, gives no real clues at what timeframe the cover takes place in. However, it is clear that much of War for the Planet of the Apes, was highly political with themes of white nationalism and eugenics. It would be amazing if the Marvel Comics reboot kept the original films' focus on cultural and societal issues, as opposed to the issues of science and humanity in the reboot films.
With barely any information out on what the new Marvel Comics adaptation of the beloved Planet of the Apes franchise being released, fans can still start to get excited about a whole slew of fresh and classic stories set in the devastating dystopian future to start being released in 2023!
Source: Marvel Comics
