Zack Snyder doesn’t do things by halves – he’s a filmmaker who goes all-in on conjuring up entire worlds teeming with storytelling potential. Except, on Rebel Moon, he is doing it by halves in the sense that his original sci-fi epic (originally pitched as a Star Wars movie, spinning a Seven Samurai-esque story against a galactic background) is so huge, it’s arriving in two separate movies. The first, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire, is coming to Netflix (and selected cinemas) this December. And its conclusion, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, is following in April 2024, exploring the clash between the evil Imperium and a handful of warriors gathered to defend the vulnerable moon of Veldt.
Speaking to Empire in the 2024 Preview issue, featuring an early peek ahead at The Scargiver (see below), Snyder spoke to Empire about those intriguing Part One and Part Two titles, and what they mean for the stories. “We had the titles for a long time,” the director explains. “A Child Of Fire has a double meaning. The Child Of Fire could be Princess Issa, this myth that runs through the stories. The robots that we refer to as Jimmy, the Anthony Hopkins character, were created to protect the unborn Issa and lost all their purpose when she was assassinated. Kora [Sofia Boutella’s character] is also a child of fire: she was a war orphan. Her home was burned down and she was snatched up and brought into the army.”
Just as A Child Of Fire, then, seems to refer to both the mythical Issa and Boutella’s weapon-wielding badass Kora, so too does The Scargiver. “[Kora’s] nickname is the Scargiver, which is also related to her relationship with Princess Issa,” teases Snyder. “Those two myths are braided together in a pretty cool way, I think.” And it sounds like plenty of scars will be given out in the concluding chapter. “The second movie is really a war movie,” Snyder says. “At the beginning they harvest the crops, and we have a bunch of stuff in the village, sort of the ‘Why We Fight’ aspect of the movie. We have time for relationships. Then the next thing is the big battle. It’s really fun.” The Imperium should be quaking in its boots.
Read Empire’s full interview with Zack Snyder – talking both parts of Rebel Moon, the genre of ‘sci-fantasy’, drinking space-wheat beer and more – in the 2024 Preview issue, on sale Thursday 23 November. Pre-order a copy online here. Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child Of Fire comes to cinemas on 15 December and Netflix on 22 December. Part Two – The Scargiver is expected to release on 19 April 2024.