Credit: NetflixZack Snyder once pitched his idea for a Star Wars movie years ago, though Lucasfilm had passed on it. Fast forward to today, Snyder’s failed pitch has become his creation: Rebel Moon. The first trailer for the film has finally dropped, though it appears that Snyder’s vision still contains many elements reminiscent of the Star Wars franchise—including lightsabers.
Related: ‘Rebel Moon’ is Still ‘Star Wars’
Rebel Moon might already sound a bit suspect considering the presence of Rebels and the Empire was among the chief themes of the Star Wars universe. Even more a coincidence is that the story for Snyder’s film also bares the same type of story that A New Hope did.
Sofia Boutella portrays a mysterious woman named Kora. Kora recruits warriors from across the galaxy to help her fight off a tyrannical force called the Imperium. Regent Balisarius is the leader of the Imperium and is portrayed by Fra Free. Joining Free and Boutella is Charlie Hunnam as Kai, Ray Fisher as Darrian Bloodaxe, Djimon Hounsou as General Titus, and many more.
Though the actors and a rough synopsis were the only things known about Zack Snyder’s movie, the teaser trailer has revealed far more. Interestingly, the trailer also comes in at a whopping 3:29, which is unusual for most trailers. Typically, teaser trailers only offer around 1:30 of a story.
The jam-packed trailer contains many new elements, including how Zack Snyder might have completely ripped off the lightsabers in Star Wars.
‘Rebel Moon’ Showcases Its ‘Star Wars’ Inspiration
Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon — a two-part movie event — begins this December
Part One: A Child of Fire – December 22, 2023
Part Two: The Scargiver – April 19, 2024 pic.twitter.com/k0aDf2YwoL— Netflix (@netflix) August 22, 2023
From the trailer, we get to know the overall story of Rebel Moon, which paints Kora as a child of prophecy meant to usher in peace and tranquility. That is also the same case for Anakin Skywalker, who is the boy who was meant to bring balance to the Force. There are also many instances of space battles, laser rifles, alien creatures, and droids.
While all those elements belong to the sci-fi genre period, we see how Star Wars influenced Snyder and how that influence led to him creating this film. One of the biggest aspects that might get Snyder in trouble is the addition of lightsaber-like weapons. A spider-like creature fights Doona Bae’s Nemesis as she dual-wields what looks to be red lightsabers.
Per a character description, those weapons are said to be of the molten metal variety, and she is a cyborg swordmaster who can wield such weapons. We don’t want to say outright that Snyder is taking some creative liberties with these weapons, but they look very similar to the weapon of the Jedi and Sith.
While the molten metal weapon description might fly for what Doona Bae is wielding in the trailer, there is another instance of a fight scene where more lightsaber weapons seem to appear, this time in blue color.
What do we know from Star Wars? Red lightsabers generally belong to evil characters, and blue belong to the heroes. Again, we are sure those blue weapons might also have a clever name; Snyder is inching ever closer to ripping off Star Wars.
We will admit that Rebel Moon looks exciting, and the nearly four-minute trailer has enough to excite anyone who happens to be a sci-fi fan, but we wonder how much closer to the Star Wars franchise Snyder will get. At the end of the trailer, it is also announced that Rebek Moon will be split into two parts.
Rebel Moon: Part 1 – A Child of Fire comes out on December 22, 2023, and Rebel Moon: Part 2 – The Scargiver releases on April 19, 2024. Star Wars was initially released as a trilogy, so we see Snyder also trying to emulate this type of release situation that George Lucas engaged in.
Related: ‘Rebel Moon’ is New Snyderverse Epic Set to take on Star Wars
Despite the clear parallels in what Snyder tries to do with Rebel Moon, the film might be one of his crowning achievements. We will certainly find out when it drops this December on Netflix.
What do you think of Zack Snyder and his Star Wars clone? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!