10 Subtle Signs Movie Characters Were Getting Smarter

A slightly different entry here, as this doesn't revolve around one single character but rather an entire species. With many generations taking place in between the events of War for the Planet of the Apes and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, there was always going to be a difference between the apes themselves.

The big evolutionary differences are that the apes now live in true societies, with law, order, and hierarchy, while the most obvious leap forward is their speech. The animals speak English almost fluently, while Caesar's (Andy Serkis) grasp of the language was broken, even at its best.

The apes in Proximus' (Kevin Durand) kingdom, however, have come farther than others, as they are the first apes to protect themselves with armour. During Caesar's war, they were never able to shield their bodies against the rattle of human guns, but that changed by the time Proximus ruled.

According to the production designer for Kingdom, Daniel T. Torrence, the apes figured out that they were able to break apart pieces of the ship that was essentially the King's castle, and use them to build weapons and armour. This is the kind of evolution similarly seen in the opening scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the apes learning to use tools and the environment around them, but at a wildly accelerated rate.