Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon – Part One revolves around a woman's mission to save the peaceful farming moon of Veldt that she calls home from a brutal enemy; as we learn in the film's opening scenes, the cruel and powerful Motherworld intends to bleed Veldt dry for its resources, leaving its subjugated people to starve.
That's where Sofia Boutella's Kora comes in. She sets off on a dangerous journey to recruit a team of allies who can help her defend the moon and its gentle villagers. But, as we know, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire isn't the full story.
Part Two, titled The Scargiver, is just around the corner, arriving in April 2024. That means there's plenty still to come – and, according to Ed Skrein, who plays the fearsome, villainous Admiral Noble in the films, Part Two is set to be seriously epic.
"I remember Zack saying with the second movie that he wanted it to feel like Dunkirk," Skrein tells GamesRadar+ when we meet in London, referring to Christopher Nolan's World War 2 movie. "So it's like, there's a space at the beginning, and then it's going off. And it's really, really going off. And, you know, Return of the King, Lord of the Rings vibes where it's like, 'Okay, we kind of know where they're going.' It's like, 'Alright, now let's just sit back, eat loads of popcorn, and watch it all kickoff.'"
It's no surprise that the ending of the two-part saga sounds huge. When GR+ meets with Snyder, he tells us that the original screenplay for Rebel Moon was some 200 pages long, and the project ended up in halves after he was reluctant to cut it down. That means that both parts are telling a single, unified story – but they're still very different, with the follow-up going heavy on the action. "You'd think that, 'Oh, if it's one long movie, the tones will be pretty similar, just would have continued through,'" he says. "But movie two is a much different vibe, because if movie one was like, 'Here's all the characters, let's go find them and bring them together and then come back to Veldt,' movie two is really like a war movie. The tone is different."
Delving deeper
But action isn't all you can expect from Part Two. Michiel Huisman, who plays naive, Veltdian farmer Gunnar in A Child of Fire, hints that the follow-up will go deeper on each character that Kora recruits across Part One. "In Part One, we only have so much time to introduce the worlds and the characters," he says. "And I think in Part Two, we get to know them a lot better."
It's a sentiment that Ray Fisher, who plays revolutionary warrior Darian Bloodaxe, shares. "Bigger action. I'm trying to use one word, so I don't spoil anything, but big action, and a lot of exploration of the characters that you are going to love in Part One," he reveals of what to expect from The Scargiver. Adds his fellow revolutionary E. Duffy, who plays a fighter named Milius: "That's what's exciting about Part One, too, is that it's just constant teasers."
Boutella also promises that The Scargiver will give each rebel their moment in the spotlight. "There are no characters that are left aside," she says. "It goes really deeper with every single person. You get the backstory and then get to understand why they're where they are, and why they're who they are."
Djimon Hounsou and Staz Nair, who bring to life former Motherworld soldier General Titus and the once-regal, now-captured Tarak, similarly tease that Part Two will be delving into darker subject matters as it explores each character. "You would see a better Tarak and you will see a better General Titus," Hounsou says. "And certainly, it will give you an opportunity to see how they deal with their own demons."
"You get to see how they deal with their demons, how they deal with each other," Nair adds. "This really has to be seen as a Part One and Part Two. There's a reason why it's not called Rebel Moon One and Rebel Moon Two: these are two parts of the same whole. And what you get is really a deeper dive into the individuals. You really get to understand their backstories, how they got to where they were when you found them, and inevitably connect even more and relate even more to this story. This is ultimately a story about seven humans. We're heroes; we're not superheroes. We are flawed. We are imperfect. And you get to see that transition back to redemption a lot more, and some very, very vicious war."
And, as Skrein says, if you love A Child of Fire, there's plenty more where that came from, with not just Part Two, but also extended director's cuts on the horizon. "That's the amazing thing about it, is like – I hope people enjoy the movie and get to the end of it, and are like, 'Wow.' And the idea that we've already shot a whole 'nother – exactly what you've seen, but again, and then some because of the extended cuts," he says. "That you have hours and hours and hours on top of this, I think that's what's interesting and exciting about it. I suppose it's like the difference between a limited series and a series that goes on, it's like, 'Oh, we've got seasons of this.' So if you're into it from the pilot, then we've got a lot for you."
Coming soon
But how far along is The Scargiver? Well, according to Snyder, it's still very much a work in progress. "I'm in the middle of editing right now," he says. "We're almost done. So I'm here – when you walk out, I have to look at some cuts from my editor, who just is in Los Angeles going like, 'What about this?' I'm like, 'Oh, jeez, okay.'
"I'm excited for audiences to see Two, also because it really has a climactic ending," he adds. A sci-fi, Dunkirk-esque war movie with characters dealing with their demons and fighting a ferocious battle for freedom? Sign us up.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire arrives on Netflix this December 21 in the US and December 22 in the UK, with a limited theatrical release from December 15. For more, see our interviews with Snyder and the cast on building the mythology of Part One, and Snyder on the future of Army of the Dead.
You can also check out our guide to the best Netflix movies streaming now to fill out your watchlist.
