Exclusive: Planet of the Apes Goes Beyond Caesar, But Not Andy Serkis

The rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise has a protagonistic character unlike any other: Caesar. The character, performed by Andy Serkis, is the focal point of the series and his evolution will continue in 2017's War of the Planet of the Apes.

In War, we will see a largely new cast short on familiar human faces, much like the transformation between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. James Franco, an actor many suspected to be a franchise actor for the film, was entirely absent in the sequel with actors such as Jason Clarke stepping in.

With all of the human roles rotating around between films, one has to wonder if the franchise could go on without its leading ape and the man responsible for bringing him to life. The answer is yes...and no.

The Planet of the Apes franchise might continue beyond War and even the potential following film but if any film were to see Caesar off, the show will not go on with Serkis.

When asked if Serkis would play another role if Caesar were to be written out of the franchise in one way or another, director Matt Reeves quickly tells ComicBook.com, "He totally would."

"We do think that the series goes beyond Caesar in that there's a huge differences between this group of movies and the '68 movie," Reeves explains. "The idea is not to remake that movie but to take the huge journey that is between here and there and find out how al of these things happened. It's this ape psychology. Andy could play anything, ever, and we would never want to do anything without Andy."

"We would love to see Andy come in as a human," Planet of the Apes producer Dylan Clark adds. "He's not an ape anymore he's just a benevolent great uncle."

Serkis was recently seen in a rare human form appearance in 2014's Avengers: Age of Ultron as Ulysses Klaw. The actor will likely make an appearance in 2017's Black Panther film, seeing as his role is a pivotal villain for the sure-to-be franchise. However, between his performance in Ultron and the behind-the-scenes clips shown at New York Comic Con, it's clear that Serkis has more than enough acting chops to earn a non-computerized gig at the front of any franchise.

"We do these movies one at a time and we want to develop them right," Clark sys, hesitant to reveal any future plans for Serkis or his characters.

"We know where the movie ends," Clark says of the original Planet of the Apes film. "We know [Charlton] Heston shows up. We know those apes are very different. The fun is in getting there so we want to explore all those moments along the way."

As for when fans can expect to see the first footage from the film, the producer and director both agree, "Very soon!"