- Where's he taking us?
- Alexander asks where Caesar is leading his family
Alexander "Alex" is a character that appears in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He is the son of the male human protagonist Malcolm and brother Panbanisha. of and will be coping with the death of his mother and the arrival of his father's new wife and his new step-mother, Ellie. Upon meeting the apes, he befriends Maurice, the kind orangutan who becomes fond of him. He is the human counterpart of Caesar's eldest son, Blue Eyes.
Biography
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's 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's going with him to talk to the apes, Alexander overhears them and says that he's going too as he feels safer with them then what he does in the city by himself. Malcolm isn't able to argue with him and agrees to let him go with them.
Befriending the apes
At night, Alexander sits with Ellie and several of their men and listens to Ellie argue with Carver and a couple of the others and hears Carver ridicule Ellie for not hating the apes because of the the spread of the Simian Flu killed her daughter. Later, he talks to her about it and tells her he didn't 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, offers 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 has been 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's 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're 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 had 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 sits on the porch drawing when Ellie joins him. He asks about Caesar and she tells him that she thinks he'll pull through and that he's 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.
Alexander's fate after the war and his father's death is unknown.
Personality
Having grown up in a chaotic world, it is the only thing that Alexander knows. He is curious about the apes and wants to learn about them. His love of drawing and reading seems to keep him focused on the positives of the overall bad situations he is confronted with. His relationship with his father is complicated and he appears to be friendly with his new step-mother 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.
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 at 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" prior to 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, Norman Babcock from ParaNorman.
Image 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