Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ Is Not a Part of the Star Wars Universe: Here Is Why There Is Confusion

A trailer has recently dropped for a new Zack Snyder film called ‘Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire.’ And although the trailer itself seems rather interesting, it did confuse a lot of fans. Not that the trailer is confusing, per se, but it awfully reminds you of another space opera franchise – Star Wars. So, is Snyder’s ‘Rebel Moon’ a part of the Star Wars universe?

‘Rebel Moon’ was originally conceived as an R-rated ‘Star Wars’ movie. However, Disney turned down Snyder’s idea, so he decided to make the movie an entirely separate canon. The similarities stem from the fact that ‘Rebel Moon’ should’ve been a ‘Star Wars’ movie but is now a totally different franchise.

Yes, I say franchise because Snyder doesn’t plan to stop on one movie. ‘Rebel Moon’ will be a story told over at least two, but probably more movies. If you’re still confused about the lightsaber-looking weapons and hooded galactic knights in the ‘Rebel Moon’ trailer, here’s everything you need to know about Zack Snyder’s latest brainchild.

What is ‘Rebel Moon’ about?

‘Rebel Moon’ is an upcoming space opera film written, directed, and created by Zack Snyder. The story follows a former member of the oppressive Imperium – an army of the corrupt government of the Mother World – a young warrior named Kora.

She is remorseful for her past connections with the Imperium and is trying to redeem herself in any way possible. Now, a moon called Veldt is threatened to be destroyed by the Imperium and their leader, Regent Balisariu. Kora is ready to travel the galaxy to recruit warriors and form an army that’ll stand up and fight the oppressors.

One of those warriors is General Titus – a former Imperium General who Kora now recruited to lead the fight against his former employer. Then there’s Kai – a mercenary pilot; Gunnar – Kora’s old farmer friend; and Tarak – a blacksmith with the ability to bond, communicate, and control animals and lead them into battle.

Kara also recruits a cyborg swordmaster named Nemesis, two warriors named Darrian and Devra Bloodaxe, a refugee warrior called Mullius, a spider warrior named Harmada, and Jimmy – the last member of a mechanical knight race that served the king, right before the Imperium took his throne.

The movie also boasts an incredible cast, starring the likes of Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam, Ray Fisher, Anthony Hopkins (voice), Fra Fee, and others.

Is ‘Rebel Moon’ a Star Wars movie?

If I told you there’s a movie about space warriors fighting against an evil imperial army that’s threatening to destroy a planet, and there are blaster weapons and glowing swords, you’d be 100% sure I’m talking about ‘Star Wars.’ Then I’d show you the trailer for ‘Rebel Moon’ – and you’d still be sure it’s a ‘Star Wars’ film.

Well, you’d be wrong. ‘Rebel Moon’ is a movie that belongs to the same genre – a sci-fi space opera – and has tons of similarities with ‘Star Wars.’ However, it is not a part of the same universe, canon or non-canon.

‘Rebel Moon’ will exist in a totally separate universe of its own, although it was evidently heavily inspired by the ‘Star Wars’ franchise. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a couple of Easter eggs or subtle nods to the fan-favorite galactic adventure franchise in Snyder’s movie, too.

Why do people think ‘Rebel Moon’ is a Star Wars movie?

The first thing that pops out when you watch the trailer for ‘Rebel Moon’ is the whole atmosphere that so closely resembles ‘Star Wars.’ There are these cloaked, rogue warriors that awfully resemble Jedi Knights, who fight the Imperium (it’s, like, another word for Empire) and travel the galaxy in search of salvation and liberation from the evil oppressor.

Then there are the lightsaber-looking swords that aren’t really lightsabers and guns that look a lot like Star Wars blasters, but they aren’t really blasters. Also, we have a ton of alien species, AIs, androids, and mechanical creatures – just like Star Wars. How is it that ‘Rebel Moon’ isn’t a ‘Star Wars’ movie then?

Well, the truth is, Zack Snyder did envision this as an R-rated ‘Star Wars’ movie at first. In fact, he pitched the idea to Lucasfilm about a decade ago while he was still working on DC’s Man of Steel.

In an interview with Empire (kind of ironic, isn’t it?), Snyder revealed what his intentions were at first:

“It was Seven Samurai in space. And a Star Wars movie was my original concept for it.”

However, Lucasfilm was then sold to Disney, and a lot of the content they produced going forward was PG-13 instead of R-rated – meaning, Snyder’s original concept for ‘Rebel Moon’ was out of the question from the start. And, in the end, Snyder knew it was a long shot to begin with:

“I was like, ‘I don’t want any of your characters. I don’t want to do anything with any known characters, I just want to do my own thing on the side.’

I knew it was a big ask, to be honest. But the deeper I got into it, I realised it was probably never going to be what I wanted.”

In the end, the deal to produce ‘Rebel Moon’ landed elsewhere, and although the first versions will likely be PG-13 as well, R-rated cuts will eventually become available as well, just like Snyder envisioned it from the start.

Will there be more ‘Rebel Moon’ movies?

‘Rebel Moon’ arrives on December 22, 2023 – but it will not be the only movie in the same universe. In fact, the second part is arriving only about four months later because the two movies were shot back-to-back right away.

The first – ‘Rebel Moon – Part 1: A Child of Fire’ – is dropping on December 22, 2023, whereas ‘Part 2: The Scargiver’ arrives on April 19, 2024.

It’s unclear if the two films will be the only two movies in the franchise, though. I reckon that, if they are successful, Snyder will have no problem with expanding the ‘Rebel Moon’ universe even further.

Is ‘Rebel Moon’ arriving on Disney+ or Netflix?

As I’ve mentioned before, Disney turned down Zack Snyder’s idea for ‘Rebel Moon,’ so he turned elsewhere to help make his idea come to fruition. That ‘elsewhere’ – is Netflix.

The streaming giant saw eye-to-eye with Snyder and decided to make ‘Rebel Moon’ a Netflix Original – meaning it’ll arrive on the platform directly on December 22, 2023.

Personally, I’m excited for the movie, just to see what Zack had in mind when he said he envisioned an R-rated ‘Star Wars’ film. I don’t believe it’ll be nearly as iconic as our beloved Galaxy Far, Far Away, but I do believe Snyder is onto something cool here.

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