Zack Snyder calls Rebel Moon a 'giant, atmospheric space adventure' in behind-the-scenes look

Zack Snyder's upcoming celestial saga Rebel Moon looks out of this world.

The Justice League director, wife Deborah Snyder, and star Sofia Boutella provided an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at Snyder's long-awaited space opera during Netflix's TUDUM global fan event on Saturday.

"I've been working on this story for quite a while," Snyder told the crowd. "It's about a group of farmers on the edge of the galaxy that get visited by the armies of the Mother World which are the bad guys. The farmers have to decide to fight or submit."

Snyder continued, "I don't want to give it all away, but if they had decided to fight, let's say that was an option, they would have to travel around the galaxy to find warriors to fight with them. And so, it had us traveling quite a bit."

The event footage promised lots for sci-fi fans to look forward to, with its insect-like spaceships, massive explosions, burning villages, various different alien species, and green-screened battle sequences that see its characters utilizing blasters, cannons, and light-up batons.

"This movie, for me, existed elementally for 20 years. It's a story of a few against many, impossible odds, good versus evil," Snyder said in the clip. "I'm getting a chance to tell a story that I've been thinking about for quite a while."

He continued, "I just really wanted to make a giant, atmospheric space adventure."

Its cast appeared equally impressed by the scale of Snyder's interstellar vision. "I thought I knew what a big movie was until I came onto this," Ed Skrein said. "I mean, it is gargantuan."

The video ends with a short segment that appears to tease the Mother World's arrival on the aforementioned farming village. Given its many intergalactic elements — and those nifty batons — it makes sense that Rebel Moon originally started out as a potential Star Wars project well over a decade ago before it was ultimately put on the back burner when Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012.

Netflix Behind-the-scenes look at Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon'

Finally, nearly a decade on, Netflix announced that it had greenlit the project in 2021. At the time, they provided a brief synopsis: "When a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius, they dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them take a stand."

Snyder previously told Vanity Fair that Rebel Moon begins with the cutthroat leaders of the Mother World deciding to take control over the quiet and unassuming moon of Veldt.

"They land in the village to say, 'Listen, you guys will be our local food source while we're tromping around this part of the galaxy. So how long till the harvest comes in?'" he told the outlet. "The villagers are pretty much stunned by the brutality, but they don't realize what level the Mother World's ready to go to."

The saga, which reportedly draws inspiration from the work of visionary director Akira Kurosawa, will be split into two parts and stars an ensemble cast that includes Boutella, Skrein, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Cleopatra Coleman, Jena Malone, Fra Fee, and Anthony Hopkins.

And, much like his Justice League Snydercut, Snyder told Vanity Fair that both Rebel Moon installments will each have their own extended cuts. The first version will be one that "anyone can enjoy and watch," while the second will be a much more mature take on the material. He added, "I think for fans of mine and people who are ready to take a deeper, harder dive, that'll be fun for them."

The first Rebel Moon installment touches down on Netflix on Dec. 22. Watch the behind-the-scenes clip above.

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