War For The Planet Of The Apes: 15 WTF Moments

14. So, Who The Hell Was The Guy?

When Caesar and his small company of vengeful sidekicks come upon the farm that they think houses the human soldiers, they find Nova, the mute girl with a definite Newt from Aliens/X-23 from Logan sort of vibe. Before finding her though, they find a man collecting fire wood and Caesar kills him when he pulls a gun on his party.

Presumably we're supposed to think this guy is her father - or at the very least her nominated protector - partly in order to draw a parallel between Nova and Cornelius as tragic orphans - so it's remarkably odd that when she finds him dead she just looks at him blankly. She doesn't cry... She barely even blinks. So who the hell was he really?!

It's not like the virus - as we come to find is the reason for her muteness - robs its victims of emotion: McCullough is still able to feel enough to want to kill himself, and Nova shows empathy, love and fear at other times. She just clearly doesn't care that much for the guy who was keeping her alive.