You maniacs! War of the Planet of the Apes casts first human lead

The PLANET OF THE APES franchise is one of my favourite sci-fi franchises of all time, so the great commercial and critical success of this new reboot/prequel series has enjoyed thrills me to no end. Anchored by an astounding mo-cap performance by Andy Serkis, both RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES proved that this almost fifty year old franchise was not only still relevant, but that it also still had something important to say.

The third film in the rebooted series, WAR OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, hasn't done away with humans altogether yet as Deadline reports that Gabriel Chavarria (East Los High, Aquarius) has signed on as one of the two human leads of WAR OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Nothing is known about his character at this time but let's be honest, we all know that the apes are the real stars. Chavarria is primarily known for his work on TV, so WAR will most likely serve as the general public's introduction to the young actor. DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES director Matt Reeves had previously teased the epic almost biblical nature the third film may take:

It’s going to be an epic story. I think you’ve probably read that I sort of described it where in the first film was very much about his rise from humble beginnings to being a revolutionary. The second movie was about having to rise to the challenge of being a great leader in the most difficult of times. This is going to be the story that is going to cement his status as a seminal figure in ape history, and sort of leads to an almost biblical status. He is going to become like a mythic ape figure, like Moses.

Reeves will return to direct WAR OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, which is aiming for an October start date in Vancouver and will be released on July 14, 2017.