A new TV spot for War for the Planet of the Apes recaps the journey of Andy Serkis' Caesar. Following up on the success of 2011's Rise and Dawn in 2014, Fox's critically-acclaimed Apes prequel trilogy is set to return to the big screen later this year with War. Directed once again by Matt Reeves - who is returning to the helm after directing Dawn - the film takes place several years after the events of its predecessor, as Caesar and his family of Apes embark on one final fight against the humans, led by Woody Harrelson's Colonel, to decide once and for all who will rule over the planet.

If there's been one reason why the Planet of the Apes prequel films have done so well over the past few years also, it's the complexity behind Andy Serkis' portrayal of Caesar. Pushing the motion-capture technology that he helped introduce in the Lord of the Rings films into an entirely new era, Serkis' Caesar has emerged as not only the beating heart at the center of the Apes franchise, but one of the best protagonists in any contemporary film franchise around nowadays.

It's not hard then to see why 20th Century Fox has gone out of its way to promote War for the Planet of the Apes as being the final film in Caesar's onscreen journey. And in case they needed a quick refresher of the true magnitude of that journey, fans can see a brief recap of Caesar's actions in the previous two Apes films, in the latest TV spot for War that was released online earlier today. Check it out for yourself in the space above.

War for the Planet of the Apes Ape in snow

This year has one of the busiest summer seasons in recent memory, so it should speak to the quality of the franchise that War for the Planet of the Apes has emerged as one of the most-anticipated films set to be released over the next several months. Just like in Dawn, the film looks to be upping the ante in terms of scale, action, and emotion from the previous two outings, in order to help shepherd the Apes franchise into a brand new era; one that is likely closer to the world depicted in the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movie than either Rise or Dawn were.

It's hard to think of a filmmaker more fitting of helping bring Caesar's story to its conclusion than Matt Reeves as well, since he's one of the main reasons why Caesar wound up becoming the lead character of the franchise. He and Serkis have developed a strong bond working on the films together - so much so that there are rumors Serkis may appear in Reeves' Batman film - that it's hard to imagine either one of them failing to deliver a satisfying ending for the character. Fortunately, fans only have a few more months to go before they get to see just what that ending is too.

NEXT: War for the Planet of the Apes Features Original Series Character

Source: 20th Century Fox

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