10 Deleted Scenes That Explain Confusing Sci-Fi Movie Moments
5. What Happened To Malcolm? (War For The Planet Of The Apes)
The third instalment in the reboot saga, War for the Planet of the Apes is about, well, a war for the planet of the Apes.
Ceasar leads the simian side and the homo sapiens being controlled by the evil Colonel, portrayed chillingly by Woody Harrelson.
Harrelson's character is the subject of this deleted scene from the movie, in which he has imprisoned Caeser (played by a CGI-less Andy Serkis). He begins telling his captive about a man he had once met, a man who knew Caeser and vouched for him. The ape immediately recognises that he's talking about Malcolm.
Malcolm met Caeser in the previous film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He was the leader of a small group of humans who had survived the deadly outbreak of Simian Flu and befriended Caeser in spite of the tense human-ape relationship at the time.
When asked what happened to Malcolm, The Colonel replies "I shot him".
This is a truly heartbreaking moment, brilliantly captured by both actors in the scene. It also explains why Malcolm isn't in this movie despite being such a big part of the one before it.