‘Sci-fi is a super fun genre to play with’
◆ As the second half of Zack Snyder’s epic space opera Rebel Moon comes to Netflix, Rachael Davis talks to the writer-director and members of the cast to find out more
Director Zack Snyder might be best known for his superhero and horror films, but as the second part of his epic space opera Rebel Moon lands on Netflix, he says this brand of sci-fi has been “a lot of fun” to delve into.
Filmed back-to-back with Part One: A Child of Fire, which was released onto the streaming platform in December 2023, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver picks up immediately after its predecessor’s eventful climax and takes audiences even deeper into the fantasy world created by Snyder and his co-writers Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten.
“I think it is a super fun genre to play with,” says Snyder, 58, who also directed 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen, Man of Steel and Justice League.
“I really am self-aware of all the tropes, and the iconology (sic), and all the sort of cultural touchstones that you see in the movie; they almost are impossible to avoid when you’re making a sci-fi film…
“It was a lot of fun because, basically, you get the sort of all the space opera stuff (that) starts to happen, and you become aware of the genre and everything.
“And I did do my damnedest to make sure that cinematically, the audience is aware that I’m aware of the… I don’t want to say cliches, I guess tropes is the right word – that when you use them, and you’re aware that you’re using them, it’s better.”
Set in a galaxy that’s ruled by the imperialistic Motherworld, Rebel Moon tells the story of Kora, played by Sofia Boutella, a former soldier of the Motherworld’s military the Imperium, who has recruited warriors from across the galaxy to fight against the coloniser, protecting the moon of Veldt and its farming colony from imperial threat.
She’d made Veldt her home after crash landing there, and soon became their only hope for survival as the Motherworld’s tyrannical Regent Balisarius, played by Hawkeye and Les Miserables star Fra Fee, and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble, played by Deadpool’s Ed Skrein, threaten the peaceful settlement of farmers.
Part Two sees Kora and the surviving warriors rally to defend Veldt against the continuing threat of the Motherworld, bringing plenty of action alongside a deeper understanding of the characters.
“It starts the next day, if not the same day, actually. It’s right away,” says The Mummy star Boutella, 42, of where we meet Kora and her army in this sequel.
“We’ve had a little victory, and I think as a collective, it kind of binds us to an extent – but there’s just still a lot of growth to happen,” adds Game of Thrones’ Staz Nair, who plays Tarak, one of Kora’s first recruits.
“Still a lot of understanding, and still a lot of relationships between the characters to be built. What I think is fun about this second movie is when we come on to Veldt, it’s two worlds colliding, right, the warriors and the farmers, and this blend of these two different worlds… It’s what brings all of these together, I think.”
“You go a bit deeper with each and every character, you get a bit more intimate with everybody,” agrees Boutella.
“And then you get to find out their dynamics and learn a lot more about their past and what basically leads each and every one to fight for that cause.”
As Rebel Moon’s story reaches its climax, there is certainly “a lot more action”, Boutella says.
But there was also a lot more worldbuilding to be done, which is something Snyder relished.
“The village itself, they’re kind of vaguely Scandinavian … almost like Vikings in some way,” he says.
“I didn’t want them to be like, space farmers. In the early development, we had some sort of space farmer vibe looks and I was like: ‘Ugh, it’s like a weird space movie.’ So I said: ‘You know what? Let’s just make them like they came from the Dust Bowl, that vibe.’
“We built that giant village just north of Santa Clarita, north of LA, and all of the sets were inside-outside sets, so we could shoot in there on location.
“We would walk outside, and the cool thing about it is the village is all right there, and all the lights are on, and smoke’s coming out. So it was really very immersive in that sense.
“For a space movie, I think the more big, practical sets you can have, the more grounded it feels. We built a giant wheat field, we planted acres and acres of wheat that we had to then harvest … That was incredibly immersive, also.”
For the epic film’s cast, immersion was the name of the game. Both parts of Rebel Moon were filmed consecutively, meaning long months on set and an intense embodiment of their characters which, while exhausting, only made the experience richer.
“I feel like the arc of Noble, I was really able to go deep underwater with it and do some really weird stuff with it, and have range and an arc inside of a tentpole piece like this, which you often don’t get an opportunity to (do),” says Ed Skrein, 41, of getting into the depths of the cruel admiral Noble on the long shoot.
“If I’d have come home after three months, and just felt, like, all nice and good and had good energy levels, and then if I’d have come back and done another three months, it just wouldn’t have been the same.
“I think I had to be exhausted to get really weird and go deep underwater and execute the weirdness.”
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver is now on Netflix.