Summary
- Zack Snyder plans to release extended director’s cuts for his upcoming sci-fi films, Rebel Moon, just like he did for Justice League.
- The R-rated director’s cuts of Rebel Moon will be even more extensive than his previous films, with big chunks of the movie being different.
- Snyder has ambitious plans for the Rebel Moon universe, including sequels, spinoffs, prequel comics, books, graphic novels, video games, and a shared universe with Army of the Dead. The director’s cuts will help establish this expansive universe.
Rebel Moon director Zack Snyder teases new details about the director’s cuts for his upcoming science-fiction films. Even before Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Snyder was known for his extended director’s cuts, including for Watchmen and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. While fans had to campaign Warner Bros. to release the Snyder cut of Justice League, both Netflix and Snyder have already confirmed that extended cuts of the Rebel Moon movies will be released.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snyder explained the most significant differences between the PG-13 versions of Rebel Moon and the R-rated director’s cuts that will also be released. These changes are poised to be even more extensive than the director’s cuts for Snyder’s previous films. Read his comments below:
“I’m super proud of the PG-13 version, the broader audience version, because I would say it really satisfies an awesome, timeless, mythological scope. What we’ve done with the other version is fun and subversive because an R-rated sci-fi movie at this scale shouldn’t exist. It’s a full hour longer. It’s not just slightly different or a little bit more. There are big chunks of the movie that are different.”
Zack Snyder Has Ambitious Plans For The Rebel Moon Universe
Director’s cuts that are an hour longer tie into Snyder’s ambitious plans for the Rebel Moon universe. While in development over the course of twenty years, Rebel Moon was pitched as a Star Wars movie at one point. It ultimately became its own intellectual property that Snyder went on to develop with Netflix. The first two movies were shot simultaneously, with Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire releasing in December and Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver releasing in April 2024.
These two movies, and their director’s cuts that will contain more story than the original releases, are only the beginning of the Rebel Moon universe. Numerous sequels and spinoffs are planned, with some extending beyond the medium of movies. A four-part Rebel Moon prequel comic is confirmed to begin releasing in January 2024. Titled Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe, it explores the characters Darrian and Devra Bloodaxe prior to the events in Part One: A Child of Fire. Snyder has also discussed plans for other books, graphic novels, video games, and even a Netflix VR experience.
Darrian Bloodaxe is played by Ray Fisher, who portrayed Victor Stone/Cyborg in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Snyder also revealed that Rebel Moon is in the same universe as Army of the Dead. Establishing a shared universe between his various Netflix film franchises opens the door for even more storytelling possibilities. The extended runtime of Snyder’s director’s cuts offers more opportunities to make these connections and to open these doors in ways there isn’t time for in the PG-13 versions of the films. Time will tell if Snyder’s ambitious Rebel Moon universe can be fully realized, but the director’s cuts are a good place to build a strong foundation.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
