'Kong' And 'Planet Of The Apes' Are Crossing Over In A Comic Book Miniseries
It's the ape-mazing crossover you never knew you wanted (yes that was terrible, I'm sorry): King Kong and Planet of the Apes are colliding in a comic book miniseries from BOOM! Studios.
The miniseries, titled Kong on the Planet of the Apes, takes place in the timeline of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes movies, and will run for six issues.
Kong on the Planet of the Apes takes place during the first Planet of the Apes movie from 1968, with Dr. Zaius and General Ursus leading a group of soldiers to the Forbidden Zone. To their surprise, the group discovers Kong there, washed up after his previous adventures. The Apes then travel to Skull Island to discover the truth of Kong's appearance, but the treacherous journey puts their fates — and lives — at risk.
The six-issue miniseries is written by Ryan Ferrier (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) with art by Carlos Magno.
Ferrier spoke about his excitement to draw the crossover series in an official statement (via CBR.com):
"There's such a deep mythology to both properties, especially if you consider all of the amazing Kong and Apes comics that have come out in recent years. With this series, we've found a coherent, meaningful way of having these two worlds and their legacies fold into each other. The implications of the Ape civilization discovering the Kong world are huge, and that's certainly on the forefront of the series."
While the most recent iteration we saw of Kong that was in Jordan Vogt-Robert's film from earlier this year, Kong: Skull Island, the crossover will be a direct follow-up to BOOM!'s Kong of Skull Island 12-issue series written by James Asmus and drawn by Magno. Recent Kong comics have been based on Joe DeVito's Skull Island and Merian C. Cooper's King Kong.
We know that the Kong in Skull Island is a young iteration of the giant beast, and that he ages much slower than typical mammals. But could he be thousands of years old in his crossover with the Planet of the Apes? Or could he go through a similar event as Charlton Heston's George Taylor, who found himself on a future Earth after centuries of suspended animation? Could some sort of time-travel anomaly befall Skull Island that affects Kong and the rest of the mutant creatures that inhabit it? Or maybe there's no connection here at all and we should just enjoy the ride.
Time travel is not an unfamiliar concept to the Planet of the Apes series, so it could be likely that time travel is the twist we see in Kong on the Planet of the Apes. Most importantly, however, we will get to see how the Apes fend off the dangerous denizens of Skull Island.
Kong on the Planet of the Apes will premiere in November.