It Seems That Elon Musk Indeed WAS the Inspiration for the Main Antagonist of the ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Movie
The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is finally here, and both fans and critics have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on the movie and will be able to do it in the upcoming weeks. But, with more fans being able to see the movie, some theories about the characters and their inspirations about them have begun to surface and one of the more popular ones as far as the movie is concerned is the one that the film’s main villain, the ape monarch Proximus Caesar is actually based on controversial businessman Elon Musk.
Many fans have observed similarities between the villain of the film and Musk, leading to many of them believing that Elon Musk was the inspiration behind the character and as it seems, based on what Kevin Durand, the actor who portrayed Proximus Caesar said, it seems that Musk was, indeed, one of the inspirations for the character.
Total Film has had the chance to talk to Durand about the movie and his role, revealing that while Owen Teague’s Noa has been compared to some legendary film characters (like Luke Skywalker and Frodo Baggins), his character has really been compared to some more controversial figures, including – and that was the most frequent comparison – the controversial businessman Elon Musk.
When asked about the comparisons, Teague said the following:
“I mean, it makes sense. Those stories that those characters have are very much a kind of rise to heroism and to saving their people, societies, or whatever. And that is exactly Noa’s story. I mean there’s pressure for sure but he [Ball] is absolutely right.”
Source: Total Film
On the other hand, when Durand was asked about the comparisons related to his character, the actor laughed and actually confirmed them, saying that this was not the first time he heard such comparisons. Here is what he said:
“That’s awesome! I mean even with the bonobo face, they compare me to Elon Musk… I get Elon Musk all the time actually, it’s very funny. People approach me with a look in their eye where I realize they are not meeting an actor that they like, it’s something bigger. But the fact that it comes through even when I’m an ape is fantastic!
I did look at really charismatic speakers – I watched [life coach] Tony Robbins quite a bit, Elon, Arnold Schwarzenegger doing like his governor speeches. Just these humans who without trying, you just have to watch them as they hold so much power and charisma. “
Source: Total Film
As you can see, Durand was very open about the influences for his character and this was actually a great and very funny reveal, proving that the fans were not wrong about one of the film’s most important characters.
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