Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes: 7 Awesome Easter Eggs And References You Probably Missed

5. Loaded Ape Names

Although no human characters made it through from Rise (more on that later), the same isn't true of the apes. Caesar, Ash's father Rocket and orang-utan Maurice (along with Koba and Caesar's love interest Cornelia, this time played by different actors) all returned. With the series now seen more predominantly from ape eyes than human's, it's good to see some effort put into creating a distinct cast of characters who will be consistent as the series progresses. But on a pure trivia level there's a lot to enjoy about these character's too; their names all reference something pretty cool, in-ape-universe or otherwise. Caesar is obviously named for the similarly revolutionary character from the original series (himself after that Roman Emperor guy), while Koba is inspired by Stalin's pre-revolution nickname. The others, however, hark back to the older movies; Cornelia is a nod to Roddy McDowall's character in the first three original movies, while Rocket and Maurice are named after set decorator Norman Rockett and Dr. Zaius actor Maurice Evans. That these are the most overt throwbacks to the original series says a lot about the approach Reeves and co. have taken to reducing the fan service, although if they can keep giving original series fans little trivia bones like this we'll be happy.