There aren’t many filmmakers out there who can stir up a hornet’s nest quite like Zack Snyder, and the ironic thing is that he’s got absolutely nothing to do with the never-ending discourse surrounding his work. Naturally, then, Rebel Moon being touted as the culmination of his entire career to date is destined to generate opinions that span the entire spectrum.
Even though his days at DC have long since drawn to a close, barely a day goes by without the director of the SnyderVerse emerging as one of the hottest trending topics on social media, while virtually his entire filmography to date has been savaged and saluted in equal measure. Netflix is footing the bill for his two-part sci-fi extravaganza – complete with Snyder Cuts – with his wife and producing partner Deborah revealing to Empire that for better of worse, the former Star Wars spin-off is the apex.
“I feel like this movie is an accumulation of everything he’s done thus far. There’s so much to it, and so much thought in the production design and the languages and the characters.”
Rebel Moon is so massive, in fact, that Netflix decided to split it into two parts in order to allow Snyder to tell his story exactly the way he wanted to tell it, with the self-aware orchestrator of the DCU’s early run admitting he’s got a habit for laying it all on the table.
“If we cut it down to one movie, we pretty much know how that goes. By page 15 we’re on the road. With a recruitment movie, trust me, I know. There are no surprises in that [single] movie. Four hours is a whole different kettle of fish.”
The first half is almost certainly going to end up as one of Netflix’s most-watched original features of all-time, and the online response will be fascinating to witness unfold, but it’s entirely a matter of personal preference if peak Zack Snyder is a good or a bad thing.