Alexander was the son of Malcolm and Rita, and the stepson of Ellie. Upon meeting the San Francisco Ape Colony while on an expedition with his father to restore power to his colony in San Francisco, he befriended Maurice, a kind orangutan who became fond of him. Alexander was also the human counterpart of Blue Eyes.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Alexander was born in San Francisco to Rita and Malcolm in 2011. When the Simian Flu Pandemic occurred, Rita died and Alex was forced to live and grow up through the tumultuous period. Alex and his father survived the pandemic due to being genetically immune and resided in an unfinished shopping mall in the ruins of San Francisco with other humans who survived the pandemic. His father soon met a former CDC nurse named Ellie whom Malcolm eventually married. However, Alex was distant from Ellie due to the loss of his mother.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes[]
Encounter with Apes[]
Alexander first appears in the forest with his father and stepmother when they go running to Carver who has accidentally shot a young chimpanzee (Ash) in the shoulder. The group is confronted by the ape king (Caesar) who yells at them to leave. In the rush, Alexander drops his backpack which is picked up by Maurice.
Back in the city, Malcolm asks if he is okay and Alexander tells him and Ellie that he dropped his bag containing his sketchbook in the forest. The next day, Alex and the other survivors pay witness to Caesar and the Ape Army arriving in the city where they threaten (in English) war on the humans if they ever step foot in their territory again. The Ape King then has his son give Malcolm back Alex's sketchbook before leaving for the Ape Village with his people after giving his warning. When Ellie tells Malcolm she is going with him to talk to the apes, Alexander overhears them and says that he is going too as he feels safer with them than by himself. Malcolm is not able to argue with him and agrees to let him go with them.
Befriending the Apes[]
At night, Alexander sat with his father, Ellie, and the rest of their group and listened to Ellie argue with Carver about the Simian Flu and its origins. He listened to Carver ridicule Ellie for not hating the apes because of the spread of the Simian Flu, which killed her daughter. Later, he talks to her about it and tells her he did not know about it and asks what her name was and Ellie, seeing this as her chance at bonding with him says her name was Sarah. Alexander, knowing what loss feels like, offered her his sympathy.
After Caesar allows Malcolm and the group to work on the dam, Alexander and Ellie bond over Caesar's youngest son, Cornelius, who has wandered over to them while the infant's brother, Blue Eyes watches them closely. When the infant uncovers a hidden gun, a furious Caesar having jumped in to rescue his sons, points the gun at each of the humans in turn threatening them before throwing the weapon over the dam wall. After this and the peace has been cleared after Ellie helps Caesar's wife get better, Alexander is set upon in the control room of the dam by Koba. Malcolm having seen the bonobo assault his son, jumps in to shield him from the bonobo only to be shielded himself by Maurice. Alexander then witnesses Koba berating Caesar over the fact that he loves the humans more then his own sons before the Ape King beats Koba for his insolence.
Fleeing from Terror[]
The next day, Alexander waits outside the family tent in the forest for Maurice who has become fascinated by the humans and wishes to learn more about them. Together, Alexander and Maurice read from his graphic novel, Black Hole that Maurice had seen him holding a few days earlier when he had taken a few of his students into the forest to see the humans. Once the power was restored to the city, Alexander visits the Ape Village with his parents and celebrates with them and the apes. He witnesses Caesar getting shot and Maurice telling the humans to run before Koba can get to them.
Finding and Helping Caesar[]
Back in the forest, Alexander and Ellie stumble across Caesar's body and are but they realize he is still alive after seeing his eyes move. They call for Malcolm who helps them get the fallen alpha back to their car. Caesar has them take him to his old childhood home and Alexander asks where they are going.
At the house, Alexander finds a photo sitting on the mantlepiece of a man with a chimpanzee and shows it to his parents who realize that the house is where Caesar grew up and the reason why he was kind and compassionate/sympathetic towards them. After Malcolm returned with medical supplies (along with bringing Caesar's son Blue Eyes to the home) Ellie proceeded to operate on Caesar, Alexander sat on the porch drawing when Ellie joined him. He asks about Caesar and she tells him that she thinks he will pull through and that he is strong. When Blue Eyes returns to the house with the rebel apes he has freed from Koba's clutches, Alexander joins his parents, Caesar, and the apes in getting to Koba.
War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations[]
In War, Alexander does not appear after the start of the Human-Ape War. It is unknown how Alex reacted or if he knew about his father's death at the hands of the Colonel; It is also not known if he was infected with the mutated Simian Flu or not.
Personality[]
Having grown up in a chaotic world, Alex was meek and traumatized. However, he was good-hearted and showed curiosity about the apes and sought to learn about them. His love of drawing and reading seemed to keep him focused on the positives of the overall bad situations he was confronted with. His relationship with his father was complicated, although he was shown to be friendly with the apes and his new stepmother after several moments of bonding.
Relationships[]
Notes[]
- Alexander is the first human character to have this name. In various comics based on the original films, Caesar (born Milo) had a grandson named Alexander.
- Alexander would have died long before the events of the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes occurred.
Trivia[]
- Mentioned by Jason Clarke at Comic-Con San Diego 2013.
- Actor Nick Thurston revealed on his Facebook page that his character, Blue Eyes would be sharing scenes with Kodi's character.
- Kodi mentioned in a recent interview with Crave Online Australia that his character Alexander, has grown up in the post-apocalyptic world that is the product of the Simian Flu and the human civil war and it is pretty much all he knows. He went on to say that he knows the human world better then most of the other humans do.
- EmpireOnline (Empire Magazine) revealed that the character's name was Alexander while giving a briefing on the 20 minutes of footage shown to audiences.
- In the footage shown to audiences, when Caesar yells for the humans to leave, Alexander drops his backpack in the rush to get out of the forest, Maurice picks the bag up and shows it to Caesar. Later, when Caesar takes the ape army into the city, he has Blue Eyes drop the bag at Malcolm's feet.
- In the novelization, Malcolm recalls that he had considered the names Justin and Henry for his son.
- In the novelization, it is written that Alexander was just learning to read when the Simian Flu killed his mother and that he started drawing a lot at age 8 or 9, "as the plague wound down" before dealing with the "violence and wars over the next four years." It is also written that he had lost so much before his tenth birthday and that he is 15 during the novel.
- Alexander was played by an Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is best known for his roles as The Boy from The Road, Owen from Let Me In, and Norman Babcock from ParaNorman.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios)
- War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations