Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes takes place “many generations” after the last movie–we’re talking hundreds of years here–and so it gets to establish a new franchise status quo for how things are going on Earth. We learn about the new way of things through the eyes of Noa, a small-town chimp from the “Eagle Clan.” This young ape is thrust into a much larger world than he ever knew existed after a brief encounter with a human leads to an armed group of masked apes invading his village and killing or kidnapping everyone in the name of Caesar.

Noa, left for dead, barely manages to survive and sets out on his rescue mission–and he meets and is forced to team up with an orangutan named Raka, who tells Noa about the real Caesar from the past, and that human from earlier, a young woman named Mae. Mae is a rare human who can talk, it turns out, and her people were also killed by those masked apes.

The bad apes belong to the forces of Proximus Caesar, a would-be king who’s trying to break into an old human vault that he thinks holds the key to further ape evolution–he’s been kidnapping other apes so he can use them to try to force open the massive vault door, but he’s not having any luck on that front. But Mae’s got a big secret that will make her a major wild card during this conflict. But before we go on from here, a warning.

WARNING: The remainder of this article contains many spoilers for the plot of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, including its ending.

For a while, Mae tries to pretend to be a stray who’s out for revenge against Proximus like Noa is, saying that she wants to keep Proximus from getting the tech from the vault because he’s clearly a bad guy who will do bad things with it. But eventually it becomes clear that she has a bigger plan. She, too, wants to get inside this vault, but unlike Proximus she knows exactly what’s in there that she wants, and she knows how to get inside. But she needs the apes’ help to do it, because the path requires some serious climbing that she’s not equipped for on her own.

They succeed, and get into the vault, which has long been abandoned by whoever lived there. As the apes wander about, Mae goes after her target: an encryption key for communication satellites. And then they open the vault door from the inside. Proximus is right there, of course, since his whole army has been parked outside the door for months, and it’s then that Mae enacts the other part of the plan: setting off the explosives on Proximus’s barricades that are holding back the ocean tide, flooding the vault with Proximus, Noa and Noa’s pals inside. They escape through the secret entrance from before, and it’s there, on the edge of a cliff, where Noa and Proximus have their final showdown. Proximus, alone because his forces are still at their camp, delivers another soliloquy about this new age of apes, but Noa and his people aren’t hearing it.

Instead, Noa sings a song. He’s calling to the clan’s eagles, who had followed them here during their captivity–while he didn’t have an eagle of his own, his late father’s eagle has been hanging around keeping an eye on Noa. And it’s the eagles who end up actually defeating Proximus Caesar, knocking him from the cliff to his death.

From there, Noa and Mae part ways, each returning to their respective homes. And it’s here, at the end, where we finally learn what Mae’s deal was–she took the key from the vault and returned it to an ancient satellite facility full of humans, and they used it to bring satellite communications back online. And they quickly make contact with other humans. As Mae had told Noa earlier, what she wanted from the vault would help humanity speak again, in a sense.

This is where the movie ends. It’s a fascinating stopping point. With comms back up to some degree, we’ve got humanity on its first upswing of any kind in a long time, and the death of Proximus Caesar would conversely leave some kind of local power vacuum among the apes–there are likely tons of small villages like Noa’s, but large-scale powers like Proximus’s army would be few and far between.

So what happens now? The remains of human civilization we saw didn’t look like much of a military force, but who knows what kind of fun stuff, or fun people, they’ll gain access to with communications satellites operating again. The big question here is a topic that is broached repeatedly across the course of the movie: Could the apes and the humans just live together in peace? Maybe, but by the end of the film, Mae has held her cards so close to the vest that Noa doesn’t trust her–she didn’t trust Noa enough to keep him in the loop, and was clearly content to sacrifice him when she flooded the vault. This whole adventure was not the best basis for a lasting peace.

That said, this ending doesn’t really point to or set up any specific future storylines. It’s the sort of ending that allows for a lot of new possibilities without forcing them to go in any particular direction with the next one. The whole world is open here. Just keep in mind that we’re probably not heading toward a world in which human civilization makes a lasting comeback–though we should note that the original film series ended with an ape-human peace treaty in Battle for the Planet of the Apes, so who really knows where this thing will end up?

Does Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes have a post-credits scene?

There are no bonus scenes after or during the credits. Once the credits start rolling on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the movie is done, and there’s no remaining content to see. But there’s nothing wrong with sitting through the credits as a little gesture of appreciation for all the hard work that was required to bring this CGI extravaganza to life.

You’ve got a trip coming up, one that’s estimated to be just long enough to enjoy a comic book/graphic novel in. While a trade paperback isn’t difficult to carry around, it can be a tad cumbersome, and that’s where this new line of “Compact Comics” comes in. Published by DC Comics, these are 5.5″ x 8.5″ paperbacks–about the size of a mass market paperback novel–that pull some of the best and most iconic stories from the publisher’s vast library.

DC originally unveiled the Compact Comics line last year, and the first batch of pocketable graphic novels, Watchmen and Batman: The Court of Owls, will finally hit shelves in a few weeks. Best of all, each book retails for only $10, which makes it easier to not worry about bending or tearing pages on the go. Each book is friendly to first-time readers, as they all tell self-contained stories. All 10 of the graphic novels in DC’s Compact Comics series for 2024 are available to preorder now at Amazon.

DC Compact Comics – $10 each

June 4, 2024

July 2, 2024

August 6, 2024

September 3, 2024

October 1, 2024

All-Star Superman is still widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman sagas of all time, and follows the Man of Steel on his final adventures after he becomes exposed to a lethal amount of solar radiation. Frank Quitely’s art is incredible, while Grant Morrison’s story is full of action, thrills, and surprises. For fans of the Caped Crusader, Batman: The Court of Owls sees the vigilante run into the infamous cabal of super-rich socialites and their enforcers, the Talons. This was the storyline that kicked off the New 52 era of Batman, and featured sharp art from Greg Capullo.

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell shines a spotlight on rookie Green Lantern Sojourner “Jo” Mullein, who has been protecting the City Enduring, a massive metropolis of 20 billion people. After the first recorded murder in 500 years happens in the crime-free city, it’s up to Sojourner to solve this sci-fi mystery. Going from the stars to the streets, Joker is a gritty look at Batman’s infamous nemesis. Produced by the dream team of Lee Bermejo and Brian Azzarello, this is a street-level crime story starring the unpredictable clown prince of crime as he causes chaos in Gotham.

Other notable Compact Comics include a few evergreen classics, like Watchmen, Batman: Hush, and Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman.

DC is releasing two Compact Comics each month from June to October.

Persona fans have been eating well lately, and if you’re looking to get your hands on a limited edition of one of the best games in the series, you can check out this Persona 3 Reload deal at Amazon. Normally $200, the Persona 3 Reload Aigis Edition (collector’s edition) for Xbox is down to $144, but you won’t want to wait too long because this special is for a limited time only–Amazon is using its Lightning Deal percent-claimed meter. While the Amazon listing only mentions Xbox Series X, this is one of the many Xbox games that comes with both the Series X and Xbox One versions of the game.

Persona 3 Reload’s collector’s edition comes with the base game, an art book, the Persona 3 Reload soundtrack on CD across two discs, a DLC voucher for extra in-game goodies, and most importantly of all, a collectible figure of Aigis. An Anti-Shadow suppression weapon–and seemingly the last one in existence–this powerful machine gradually awakens to human emotions throughout the course of the game.

While this deal is only relevant to Xbox owners–unless you really want the Aigis statue and art book for your collection, PS5 owners can still grab the base game for $50 right now. Other Persona deals to look out for include the Persona 5 Royal: 1 More Edition over at the Amazon-affiliated site Woot, which is discounted to $50 for the PS5 version and $70 for the Switch version. This one has some nice extras in addition to the game and a steelbook case. You’ll get an art frame inspired by Justine’s Le Grimoire clipboard, Phantom Thieves art prints, a briefcase bag, a full arcana tarot card deck, and a nice treasure box to keep everything stored in. That’s a whole lot of stuff for only $50, so even those who already own Persona 5 Royal may want to consider it.

Persona 5 Royal: 1-More Edition

This is considerably cheaper than the Amazon listings, but in case it’s sold out on Woot, you can grab them there for $109 (PS5) and $90 (Switch).

Behavior Interactive and 505 Games, the team and publishers behind the asymmetrical horror game Dead by Daylight, have announced a collaboration with Wizards of the Coast. Though it hasn’t been confirmed, it looks like the team-up will bring one of Dungeons & Dragons’ monsters to Dead by Daylight.

The announcement came from a video posted to the official Dead by Daylight X/Twitter account. The post reads:

“Listen closely to the voice in the darkness…”

Although the video may be short, it appears that the monster showcased may either be a Spectator, a D&D monster that also appeared in Baldur’s Gate 3, or even a Beholder a monster that’s featured in the D&D Lego set. At the end of the video, it was revealed that more information will be available next week on May 14.

That wasn’t the only thing Dead by Daylight announced today because the May Developer Update is now in the works. According to a Twitter/X post, the latest update aims to fix “balance changes and quality of life improvements that we’ll be testing in the 8.0.0 PTB.” Some of these changes will affect killers such as The Good Guy, The Cannibal, and more.

The Fantastic Four is still over a year away from hitting theaters, but the cast is coming together quickly. Now, the latest addition to the cast is veteran actor John Malkovich. Details about Malkovich’s role were not included in the initial report, but he does have a strong physical resemblance to long-time Fantastic Four foe Philip Masters, who is better known as the Puppet Master.

Deadline was the first outlet to break the story of Malkovich’s casting. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Malkovich’s first major role in a feature film in Places in the Heart. He’s appeared in numerous movies over the past four decades, including villainous roles in Con Air, In the Line of Fire, Dangerous Liaisons, and Mindcage. Some of Malkovich’s other well-known films include The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Killing Fields, and Being John Malkovich.

Earlier this year, Pedro Pascal was confirmed as Marvel’s choice for Mr. Fantastic alongside Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach the Thing. More recently, Julia Garner was cast as Shalla-Bal, who will be the MCU’s Silver Surfer. Paul Walter Hauser has also been cast in a currently unknown role.

WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman will direct The Fantastic Four, which will begin filming later this year. The Fantastic Four will fly into theaters July 25, 2025.

When The Final Shape expansion hits Destiny 2 on June 4, it’s bringing a lot of new loadout mechanics that will let players combine different aspects of the character classes they’ve been using for years with the new Prismatic subclass. Going along with Prismatic is a new slate of Exotic armors in the class item slot that also play up the theme of combining old things into something new, and they’re going to be worth chasing as you explore the Pale Heart of the Traveler.

Bungie spent a big chunk of its latest This Week in Destiny blog post detailing how these new Exotic class items will work in The Final Shape. The quick and dirty explanation is that each new class item can carry two different Exotic perks, which are slightly adjusted versions of the perks you can get from existing Exotic armor pieces that are already in the game. The two perks are randomly assigned, however, so you’ll likely need to farm for the perfect combination for each type of character.

Now Playing: Destiny 2: The Final Shape | Official Gameplay Trailer