The storyline of the modern PLANET OF THE APES trilogy – RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, and the upcoming WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES – conflicts with the stories told in some of the earlier PLANET OF THE APES films, but there has always been a question of whether or not they're supposed to serve as prequels to the original 1968 classic. The mention in RISE that a spaceship called Icarus had gone missing fueled speculation that the film was indeed connected to PLANET '68, and now WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is set to feature another connection of that sort.
In ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’, the third chapter of the critically acclaimed blockbuster franchise, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel. After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
If you watched WAR's recently released trailer, you saw that the apes had a little human girl with them. As it turns out, that little girl is a younger version of a character anyone who watched the original PLANET OF THE APES and its first sequel BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES will be familiar with. She is Nova, who was played by Linda Harrison in those films.
Entertainment Weekly has been able to confirm that the Nova played by Amiah Miller in WAR is meant to be the same character Harrison played. As for why Nova has been included in WAR, director Matt Reeves had this to say: "The battle is not just between the humans and the apes, but in Caesar’s soul. The girl is his pull back to his empathy and — for lack of a better word — his human side."
So it's fan service with a purpose. The inclusion of Nova still doesn't necessarily mean that these films will lead into PLANET OF THE APES when all is said and done, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Reeves wrote the film with Mark Bomback. Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Gabriel Chavarria, Judy Greer, Steve Zahn, Karin Konoval, Sara Canning, and Aleks Paunovic star with Miller.
The WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES will be waged on theatre screens starting July 14, 2017.
Concept art