Summary

• Beware the Planet of the Apes returns to the original movie continuity for a Nova prequel story.
• Nova, a supporting character in the original movies, will expose the secrets of the Forbidden Zone.
• Beware the Planet of the Apes #1 is coming January 3, 2024, from Marvel Comics.

As Beware the Planet of the Apes returns to the original movie continuity, Linda Harrison’s Nova gets her own adventure in a prequel that will explore the remaining secrets of Earth’s future, including unseen perils within the Forbidden Zone. Now, a first look at the comic welcomes fans back to the 40th century.

In a preview shared by AIPT, a fleeing Nova meets Zira, and is almost discovered by a gorilla patrol. Coming from Marc Guggenheim and Alvaro López, enjoy a preview of the issue below, including Taurin Clarke’s cover.

The story will see Cornelius and Zira recruit Nova for a rescue mission after their nephew Lucius goes missing, and is likely to reveal the origin of Nova’s name, which she doesn’t yet have as the comic begins.

Related: Planet Of The Apes Conquers the Marvel Universe in Variant Cover Art

Planet of the Apes Revisits the Original Movies

There Are Plenty of New Secrets for Nova to Uncover

In the original 1968 movie, Nova is a human who escapes ape society with time-traveling astronaut George Taylor. Like most future humans, Nova is unable to talk and is treated as a dangerous but useful animal by the apes. Now, her unseen history will be exposed, including a mission into the Forbidden Zone – the radioactive ruins of human civilization, in which lie the darkest secrets of Earth’s future. The Forbidden Zone is also the home of the franchise’s mutated humans – a freakish underground cult who possess psychic abilities and worship an unexploded nuclear device.

Nova very much plays second fiddle in the original movies, so it will be great to see her past and agency expanded with a prequel adventure – especially one which promises to uncover new secrets. In the original movie, Lucius helps Taylor escape, and the idea that the ape is repaying a favor done by Nova would be a smart retcon. Guggenheim says:

I’ve been entertained and intrigued by Planet of the Apes ever since I got a Mego Doctor Zaius doll as a birthday present, and my local television station ran the original pentalogy every afternoon for a week in the summertime. In many ways, Apes is one of the OG franchises, filled with mystery, fascinating characters, and some truly off-the-wall surprises. That’s the spirit I’m working to evoke with BEWARE THE PLANET OF THE APES.

Nova’s Story Has Incredible Potential

Beware the Planet of the Apes Promises “Off-the-Wall Surprises”

In prior canon, Nova actually dies in the second movie (Beneath the Planet of Apes) when the mutants’ bomb is set off, beginning a new time-travel saga that reshapes the franchise’s lore for the final three movies. However, many different fates had been planned for her – the planned but unmade Planet of the Men sequel saw Nova raise the next generation of humanity, with her son Sirius eventually going to war with the apes. Meanwhile, in the ongoing Planet of the Apes movies, Amiah Miller’s Nova was introduced in 2017’s War for the Planet of the Apes and is far younger. In that continuity, she is adopted by Maurice, hinting at the potential for ape/human unity.

Given the original Planet of the Apes timeline is only in effect for the first two movies, there’s a huge amount prequel comics can do to flesh out the world and characters fans know. Hopefully, Marvel’s new Beware the Planet of the Apes comic will take some big swings, since – as Guggenheim points out – nothing could be truer to the original canon.

Beware the Planet of the Apes #1 is coming January 3, 2024, from Marvel Comics.

Source: David Brooke, AIPT