Across his career, Zack Snyder has cultivated a passionate fanbase – so vocal that they campaigned for the ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League to be released, and actually willed it into being. But his films haven’t always been a hit with critics. That was notably the case with Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child Of Fire, the first chapter of his sci-fi epic which launched on Netflix in December. For the most part the film wasn’t warmly received, despite the filmmaker receiving stronger reviews for his zombie film Army Of The Dead, and for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. But a few months on, and as he prepares to unveil Part Two – The Scargiver, Snyder isn’t too worried about that initial critical reception.
“I don’t really have a rebuttal to the reviews,” he tells Empire. “For whatever reason, the reaction to my movies is very polarising, and it always has been. The movie, it doesn’t seem like there’s that much in it that would warrant such visceral responses.” Having established his characters in Part One – a ragtag group of intergalactic warriors, assembled to help defend the peaceful moon of Veldt from the raging Imperium – Snyder now has his mind firmly in going big with Part Two, in which war will erupt.
Even once The Scargiver makes its way into the world, Snyder isn’t done with Rebel Moon. As long promised, he’ll be unveiling harder-edged cuts of both films – going well beyond the family-friendly ratings of the initial versions, adding additional scenes, and unleashing, as he puts it, “all the gore and the hard R-ness and the nudity and the violence and crazy shit”. When those hit Netflix, could we be in for another Justice League-style appreciation of the full vision? “They’re insane,” Snyder laughs of the unrated versions. “It’ll be interesting to see what the [critics] say about the director’s cuts. That’s a different kettle of fish.” The Rebel Moon isn’t eclipsed just yet.
Read Empire’s full story on Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver in the Furiosa issue, on sale Thursday 14 March. Pre-order a copy here. Rebel Moon: Part Two comes to Netflix from 19 April, with Part One streaming now.