Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes begins swinging into theaters later this evening, but should you stick around once the credits start rolling?
If you want to see the names of all the people who worked hard to make this movie a reality, then yes, but if the MCU has taught us anything, it's that there are often extra scenes waiting for us to set up future stories (and despite being billed as a standalone movie, Kingdom does indeed lay the groundwork for a new trilogy).
However, we can confirm today that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes does not have a post-credits scene.
While we know many of you will be disappointed, if you do wait [SPOILER ALERT] you'll hear the distinct noise of an ape, suggesting a character whose fate is left ambiguous at the end of the movie may yet live to fight another day (we'll be back with more on that soon).
The only Apes movie to feature a post-credits scene was Rise of the Planet of the Apes in a sequence teasing the spread of Simian Flu. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes featured what sounded like Koba's battle cry, only for the next instalment to reveal he had indeed died.
Talking about possible sequel plans, director Wes Ball recently said, "I don't want to say we end on a cliffhanger, but we certainly end on a new door opening, essentially, that will allow us to keep going, you know, if we wanted to. If we were successful enough to."
In Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, director Wes Ball plans to breathe new life into the franchise with a story set several generations in the future following Caesar's reign. Apes are now the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows.
As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.
Starring Owen Teague (IT), Freya Allan (The Witcher), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), Peter Macon (Shameless), and William H. Macy (Fargo), the movie opens in theaters on May 10, 2024.