From featuring trans-dimensional beings powering spaceships to introducing over 9 worlds – Zack Snyder’s ambitious Rebel Moon universe will grace Netflix this December, introducing its steampunk world & the ensemble that will make a stand against the big Bad’s empire Balisarius & The Imperium. The space adventure which was once pitched as an R-rated Star Wars project, features ZSJL actor Ray Fisher as Bloodaxe, Jimmy the robot voiced by Anthony Hopkins and a few more hardened mercenaries brought together by Sofia Boutella‘s Kora.

In some ways, Rebel Moon revisits a chapter from Zack Snyder’s previous films, recruiting a dysfunctional ensemble to fight a war that they might initially not be for the task. This theme profoundly exists in Zack Snyder’s Justice League & to some extent, in Army of the Dead too. The only difference, the Batman v Superman director is finally flexing his creative muscles through an IP he created with no studio interventions. In fact, an R-rated Rebel Moon edition will also be released following its PG-13 cut.

So it should not come as a surprise when Snyder’s pet project takes a page or two from Akira Kurosawa‘s Seven Samurai and primarily from Excalibur. Speaking of which, Rebel Moon is liberally laced with a lot of Arthurian nods, according to Empire Magazine‘s coverage of the film for the 2023 July edition. But as indicated earlier, there will be references to Man of Steel too.

When it comes to Jimmy the sentient battle robot, Snyder says, “He’s Lancelot, for sure. I was thinking about him, and how Milius is Percival.” The latter is portrayed by non-binary actor E. Duffy and the character is also non-binary.

Rebel Moon’s Ray Fisher adapted Seven Samurai’s Toshiro Mifune style for Bloodaxe

“Jimmy, I see him as a wild card,” says Snyder. “He’s on a journey of self-discovery.” The sentiment robot also goes by JC1435 and was one among the warrior robots that were built and tasked to protect their King. But with his death, the mechanized beings lose purpose and are used as forklift trucks by the Imperium.

Jimmy is apparently brought Veldt with the Imperium so it seems the events that unroll might lead the warrior robot to shift allegiance. Snyder has penned an incredibly detailed origin story for JC1435, according to the report.

For Bloodaxe, Ray Fisher took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s magnum opus, “I pulled from the Seven Samurai of it all,” said the Cyborg actor with a laugh. “Certain postures I take with my weapon, some of them I modeled after Toshiro Mifune, who carries that katana in a very specific way over his shoulder. Sometimes what I would do, before a take would start, is whisper to myself, ‘Mifune.'”

At the center of this team is General Titus leading them (although Kora recruited the mercenaries). The actor had met Snyder early on in their career when the director was still a student at Art Center College of Design.

“This is a man with tremendous trauma,” says Hounsou on his character. “And this is an unfit bunch, who could possibly kill each other at any given time, but here they come together, while checking out their egos, to say the day. The story, to me, really resonates.”

The first two Rebel Moon films will be all about the defenders of the Veldt making their stand against the largest empire of the nine worlds, Imperium led by Ed Skrein‘s Admirable Noble. “It’s very much a movie about, ‘What would you sacrifice yourself for?'” said Snyder. “Everyones a little bit broken, but there’s a real catharsis in the journey.” The team also consists of Kai, Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), Tarak (Starz Nair) and best of all, Nemesis (Bae Doona).

While part one is being described as a recruitment film, Rebel Moon 2, according to Zack – is “the war movie, like a Normandy invasion film, but with the first hour in France”. But that should not be taken as any indication the first feature would be less on the action sequences.

Clearly, Snyder has plans to explore this universe far beyond a trilogy, or else the director wouldn’t have penned a 450-page bible for Rebel Moon. But fleshing out a new world-building would require Snyder’s fanbase to show their support for the first two films by flocking to theaters during its brief big-screen window and making sure the films pop up on Netflix’s global top 10 list.

Rebel Moon will be available to stream on Netflix from December 22.