Summary
- Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: Part One is just the beginning of a larger franchise that includes a sequel, a narrative podcast, an animated comic book, an animated series, and a co-op game.
- The worldbuilding in Rebel Moon is extensive, with detailed methodology, mythology, and lore that spans 800 years. It draws inspiration from the Star Wars Legends continuity.
- Despite being initially intended as a Star Wars project, Rebel Moon stands on its own as a standalone idea, showcasing Snyder's vision and storytelling prowess. Fans can expect a deeper exploration of the lore through expanded releases.
Even as Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire nears its highly anticipated premiere, the renowned filmmaker and his collaborators are making it known that the scope of their vision goes way beyond the upcoming Netflix f ilm and its confirmed sequel.
Netflix's Rebel Moon is arguably Snyder's most ambitious project yet, taking on the same epic space opera label as the Star Wars franchise that inspired it. Initially intended to be set within the Star Wars universe, Synder would be unable to agree with the franchise custodians before Disney bought out the IP and effectively killed any chance of his grittier, darker Star Wars story ever coming to fruition. Unperturbed, Synder would unlatch his vision from Star Wars and develop it as a standalone idea, eventually coming to an agreement and teaming with Netflix to bring Rebel Moon to life.
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As Snyder's first installment in the story of an ex-army official leading a moon in rebellion against a tyrannical homeworld is nearing its release, some remark that Rebel Moon looks like too much and not enough simultaneously. However, the director wanted it on record that A Child of Fire was only the tip of the iceberg as far as his new franchise was concerned. In an interview for TotalFilm, Snyder clarified that Rebel Moon went above and beyond what fans might have expected, remarking with a chuckle.
I’m the gatekeeper for what’s possible. I’m the only one who knows where the whole story is going, and I do have it mapped all the way. We’re doing a narrative podcast, and an animated comic book, and an animated series. They all take place before the events of the movie. So you can start to understand the vastness of the mythology that we’ve been working on.
Snyder's comments cover new ground, not bothering to add in the Rebel Moon co-op game that Snyder already announced earlier. His co-writer Kurt Johnstad was also on hand to help drive home the point, giving fans a big-picture description of just how massive the effort poured into the worldbuilding had been. "The world is very, very detailed and fleshed out," Johnstad says. "There’s hundreds and hundreds of pages of documents of methodology and mythology and lore. The timeline goes back 800 years, from our movies."
It’s clear that more so than the modern iteration of the franchise, Rebel Moon takes its inspiration from the now relegated Star Wars Legends continuity that the new canon has borrowed from. It makes sense that the Legends continuity would be the basis for the project in tone and scope, as Snyder's idea pre-dates the Disney acquisition that led to the new canon being established. When viewed in that light, it’s much easier to understand Snyder's initial pitch and the subsequent construction of deep lore around that original idea once it was cut loose from the wider mythology of Star Wars.
There’s a good chance that some more dedicated fans will see a glimpse of the wider scope of Rebel Moon right from the beginning, as Snyder already justified a director’s cut of Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire and its sequel film well ahead of their release dates, showing that he can’t help but let more of the lore sep into the films despite the constraints of a theatrical release. Fans must wait and see how impactful the extra content in these expanded releases is.
Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire is set for a limited theatrical release on December 22, 2023
Rebel Moon
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- December 22, 2023
- Runtime
- 134 minutes
- Director
- Zack Snyder
When the armies of a tyrannical leader threaten a peaceful settlement on a distant moon, a mysterious villager emerges as their best hope for survival.
Source: TotalFilm