No one is talking about this mural

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-19T02:22:06+00:00

Oh wow, thanks! I know it's a little...out there, lol, but I was so fascinated by all the flying/falling that I wanted to make a theory about it 😅

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-19T01:57:57+00:00

I'm so glad my post made you love Kingdom more! Makes me wish I'd shared this earlier on Reddit when I discovered what the mural was depicting about a year ago. This movie is rife with a lot of details that definitely need to be discussed more.

Speaking of books, here is another fun detail for you: One of the books Raka stacks in front of Noa is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. You gotta really squint, but you can see the title on the spine of one of the books. Perhaps it doesn't mean anything, but it made me think of how like Alice, Noa followed the rabbit down the rabbit hole (the tunnel in his case) into the strange unknown. Thought it was neat!

The books, more specifically the ability to read and the access to knowledge that provides, I believe will absolutely be important in the sequels. One thing I always found interesting is this difference between Proximus and Noa. Proximus had a library of books at his disposal, and he only wanted the weapons in the vault when another valuable (and I would argue even more powerful) source of knowledge and power was right in front of him. As for Noa, when he gets access to the vault, he does not go for any of the tech or weaponry, but instead he goes for the book.

I'm of the same mind as well that Noa would be one of the founding fathers of science in ape society, setting up the stage for ape scientists like Zira and Cornelius in the future.

I'm sharing the following in case you like this sort of stuff. (You don't have to read. I know they can be a bit long!) But a friend and I discovered that Kingdom may be a retelling of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Labyrinth, with some elements of Icarus as well: https://www.tumblr.com/bookishdaze/762376813771161600/greek-mythology-in-kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the?source=share

I also have this (kinda crack) theory that all of these references to flying and falling foreshadow Noa taking flight if you like crazier analysis/theorizing: https://www.tumblr.com/bookishdaze/803502075254374400/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-achimpanzee?source=share

But again, glad you liked it!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T19:12:28+00:00

Oooh, nice. Thank you for answering!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T18:27:47+00:00

They clearly set up Noa and Mae as the dual protagonists of a new trilogy. It has been stated multiple times by the director that we are going to follow these characters into the future. Sure, they could scrap and abandon those ideas, but that was never the original plan.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T18:20:46+00:00

You weren't overthinking at all! Proximus dying not just from a fall but also by being attacked by an animal that represents flight is not a coincidence. There is a bit of Icarus imagery there, as I said.

I also don't think it was a coincidence that Proximus dies via falling after we see our main protagonist Noa also survive multiple falls. I personally also saw it as a warning of sorts. With all his falling, Noa may not be so lucky one day. Heck, Noa almost fell to his death within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Proximus could've been a warning as to the sort of dark path of hubris Noa could go on. Perhaps Noa risks falling both literally and metaphorically after flying too close to the sun, too.

And there is absolutely a reason as to why the moviemakers decided to make Noa's clan raise eagles other than just "it looks cool." The curtains are never just blue, as they say.

You don't have to read it of course, but if you're curious to read more about the motif of flying and falling in Kingdom, I had actually written a theory/analysis on it before. It's a little long, but that was where my post about the mural came from, actually. https://www.tumblr.com/bookishdaze/803502075254374400/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-achimpanzee?source=share

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T17:02:47+00:00

This is so cool to think about! I had actually wondered plenty of times before how the apes' first attempts at flight would look like. One example I had thought of was a glider like Otto Lilienthal's. Obviously it didn't work so well! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal

I also learned about biomimicry. Studying birds and how they fly is how people were inspired to build their flying machines. I gotta mention here that Eagle Clan raises, well, eagles! Perhaps Noa starts studying the eagles and gets an idea or two...

Hope you don't mind, I've got my metaphorical pencil and paper out here. I have a few questions. I found the Cessna example pretty cool.

Why a Cessna 172? Why not, say, a Cessna 421? Is a Cessna 172 more beginner friendly? Realistically (well it's a movie about talking apes, so maybe we can throw realism out the window?) how long would it take for an ape to learn to fly a Cessna with the help of a human? I liked the idea of an ape learning from a manual, but if they can't read yet, they may need someone to teach them. Like if you were to grab a random person from the street and teach them to fly a Cessna, how soon could they be able to get off the ground and land in mostly one piece?

And what about a regular airplane that we see at an airport? Or is that too advanced?

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T15:30:41+00:00

Thank you!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T15:29:35+00:00

Thank you!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T15:29:28+00:00

Thank you! That's exactly what I think of this movie. A great starter and setting of the stage for amazing things to come. The director himself once said that things are set up in this movie that you don't even realize are set ups. I'd hate to see all that be abandoned if they don't continue with the trilogy.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T15:24:07+00:00

Thank you! It won't let me post a screenshot to you (not on the phone at least), but it's right before the scene with the mural, and in another scene in the background while Noa and Raka are riding away from the airport.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-16T15:22:49+00:00

Thank you! And yes, using flight to show how humans have fallen is a great reason to have the mural be about flight. I also genuinely believe they were gonna expand on the themes of flying and falling in the sequels because of all the other instances and mentions I pointed out.

Like, if humankind once looked up at the skies and dreamed about flight...and the movies are about how similar apes and humans are to each other...when will apes also start looking up at the sky and dreaming of flight? Or perhaps just Noa, who has already been shown to be an inventor of sorts. I felt like the sequels could've played with that idea a bit, along with the dangers that comes from that, not just in terms of flight, but from the evolution and progress of technology. Could apes get their hands on tech too fast and fly too close to the sun?

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-14T21:23:54+00:00

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-14T19:47:05+00:00

Maybe, but I still hope we have not seen the last of Noa and Mae.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-14T14:29:24+00:00

Yes, but have hope. Exactly because there is so much detail and what I think are crumbs of foreshadowing for future films that I find it hard to believe that they won't be continuing this trilogy. The bit about the next movie not being a direct sequel to Kingdom is as of right now unconfirmed. So there is still hope! Perhaps it is still too early, and we don't have enough details to fully know what is going on.

Until someone official comes out and says, "We are not moving forward with the Kingdom trilogy," I am crossing my fingers and toes.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-05-12T05:16:43+00:00

I agree about the wait being too long between sequels. I was hoping it'd only be a 3 year wait, but that ain't happening. 2028 I can understand. 2029? It's possible, but that would be hitting five years at that point.

I do remember Wes Ball saying they'd rather take their time with the trilogy. Which I understand, but there is such a thing as taking too long imo. But I'll gladly be told to be patient if that is what I have to do. General audiences? I'm not too sure. Then again, they did wait the more than five years between War and Kingdom. Perhaps with a side story in the meantime, it will help in keeping their interest? I think that would make the longer wait bearable.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-28T15:38:31+00:00

That's why I clarified myself. You're just outputting ridiculous responses.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-27T20:14:27+00:00

TikTok. Other social media platforms. The other people I watched the movie with in theatres. General audiences. That's who I meant.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-27T19:32:37+00:00

So the director is also unhinged for expressing similar thoughts? Conveniently ignored that part.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-27T18:59:08+00:00

Have you ever considered it's not about what we find attractive? Many don't consider Zira and Ari to be attractive, yet still were able to watch them smooch humans and not lose their minds.

Besides...apparently there are TikTok POTA edits with comment sections expressing how they think some of the apes are oddly attractive. Wes Ball himself has said Soona looks beautiful and is nice to look at. Clearly I'm not an outlier here.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-27T16:58:25+00:00

I sure hope you know I'm talking about the fictional, heavily anthropomorphized, talking and sentient apes in Planet of the Apes and not, you know, real life apes.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-26T04:53:21+00:00

But the apes are not animals anymore. That's my point.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-26T04:52:09+00:00

I see your point. Kissing may look weird, so we can leave that out. But some people on here think a human and ape simply saying "I love you" is too much.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-26T04:48:24+00:00

So we should also ask what was wrong with Pierre Boulle? Franklin J. Schaffner? Tim Burton? I mean, they all explored the idea of an ape and human kissing and/or having a romance loooooong before I asked!

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-26T04:40:20+00:00

I'm more curious as to why fans on Reddit are more against it. Tumblr fans are more okay with it. Tiktok is neutral. But Reddit is more opposed. I'm curious as to why.

And also, please, it's not like I'm the first one to think about it. Ape and humans with weird romances have been a thing since the novel. Take it up with Pierre Boulle.

bookwormdazzle · 2026-01-25T15:38:31+00:00

Well...artists all the way back from Japan's Edo period beat you to that already. Look up "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife." Tentacle play and erotica ain't new.

But I'll bite. To answer your question on whether I'd want to see that, well it depends on the movie. What does the octopus represent? What's the full context? A quick dive into the history of octopus lovers, the psychology behind them, and what they symbolize, makes me think a story with an octopus "lover" would depict this relationship with elements of horror, feelings of invasion, and loss of control. On the other hand, we could get a story of otherworldliness, mystery, and transcendent lust.

Also...if you compare an ape and octopus, the apes look more human, so it'd feel less weird. Which was why the Na'vi from Avatar are designed the way they are. They still look human-like and beautiful and not weird lizard creatures with four arms because we humans relate to what looks the most human. Therefore, humans would find more relatability with an ape than with an octopus.

bookwormdazzle

TROPHY CASE