Will Rodman, the scientist from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” is presumed dead by the time of the sequel, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” His fate is not shown on-screen, but it is implied that he may have been a victim of the Simian Flu pandemic that spread at the end of the first film.
In “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Will Rodman, played by James Franco, is a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, which his father suffers from. He develops a viral-based drug called ALZ-112, which enhances the intelligence of apes. One of these apes, Caesar, grows up under Will’s care and eventually leads an ape uprising.
The film ends with the start of a global pandemic caused by the ALZ-113 virus, a more potent strain of the drug, which is lethal to humans but increases ape intelligence. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” set ten years later, shows a world where much of the human population has been wiped out by the virus, now known as the Simian Flu.
While “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” does not explicitly detail Will’s fate, it is suggested through dialogue and the state of the world that he, like many others, succumbed to the pandemic. The focus shifts to the growing community of intelligent apes led by Caesar and the remnants of humanity struggling to survive. Will’s legacy lives on through Caesar, who remembers the compassion and lessons taught by his human caretaker.