The inheritance of Earth’s future is decided in a final battle between the apes and mankind in the first official War for the Planet of the Apes trailer (POTA 3). 20th Century Fox’s third installment in the rebooted franchise following its two predecessors Rise of The Planet of The Apes and Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, POTA 3 sees Caesar (portrayed by Andy Serkis), the leader of ape-kind once again forced into a war he never wanted to fight. Watch the trailer below:

The War for the Planet of the Apes trailer opens to a shot of Caesar and Maurice along with a couple of other apes on horseback trotting along a beach, Caesar with a rifle on his back and Maurice  a human child on his. As the trailer goes on, we begin to hear narration from the once pacifist leader: “I did not start this war. I offered you peace. I showed you mercy, but now you’re here to finish us off for good.” It’s clear from the trailer that Caesar’s demeanor has shifted a bit from the previous two films; perhaps he’s just tired AF of being repeatedly attacked by the human race. In fact, it would seem that all of the apes are fed up and understand that the stakes are between survival and extinction. We can expect this film to be the most brutal out of the saga, especially with this newest threat of the “Colonel” played by Woody Harrelson.

The outside war is not the only one being fought in this third apes film though as executive producer Dylan Clark pointed out during a recent interview. Clark commented the following:

When War for the Planet of the Apes begins Caesar has broken one of his main tenets. He killed an ape. He killed Koba. Caesar had to do something, but that act was not lost on him and not forgotten… This is also a war inside of Caesar. All of the things that have happened under his leadership from Rise to Dawn and this movie and through the course of this movie and wrestling and grappling with how to make that right… Caesar goes on his journey at the end of that first act because he doesn’t believe he’s fit to lead.”

It will be interesting to see how this third installment differs from the previous films; we know that it picks up roughly two years after the ending of the last movie, there will be even more apes this time around (some of which aren’t loyal to Caesar) and that they have evolved even more since the last time we saw them.War for the Planet of the Apes hits theaters July 14th 2017.

What sticks out to you the most from this first apes trailer? Do you have any theories about the child riding horseback with the orangutan Maurice? Let us know by joining the conversation in the comments below and as always keep a tab opened on Don’t Feed The Gamers for all the news you need to know.