THIS TIME IT’S WAR

The action-packed concluding chapter in Snyder’s space saga.

Adetermined General Titus (Djimon Hounsou) challenges the enemy to a staring contest

The compressed release strategy for Zack Snyder’s two-part ‘science-fantasy’ space opera Rebel Moon, means that there’s a good chance you’re reading this preview of Part Two: The Scargiver (out 19 April) before Part One: A Child of Fire (out 22 December) has even released. But spoiler-phobes fear not, even Total Film has yet to take the trip to the planet of Veldt at the time of writing.

So what can Snyder say about Part Two that won’t give the game away? ‘The truth is that movie one is a set-up for movie two,’ Snyder teases. ‘The end is a crazy cliffhanger that launches you into The Scargiver.’

If Part One is where Snyder will embed viewers in his original science-fiction world, and make you fall in love with its ragtag assembly of rebels, Part Two is where all that set-up will pay off with the war for Veldt. ‘Tonally, they’re very different movies,’ Snyder explains. ‘In Part One we spend a lot of time in the village, having this real relationship to the place and people. So that when we actually have to fight and die for them, we care about them.’

Snyder describes Part Two as ‘100%’ a battle movie (‘Farming and fighting!’ he chuckles), a glimpse of which can be seen in our exclusive image, featuring Djimon Hounsou’s General Titus defending a river that becomes a ‘flashpoint’ for the Mother World’s invasion. ‘They make their stand at the bridge,’ Snyder details. ‘They have to be smart because they’re outnumbered, and dealing from a position of weakness militarily. There’s a few surprises, still, up Titus’ sleeve right after that moment.’

Much of the Veldt set was constructed practically and ‘literally blown up’ over the course of shooting the two-part saga’s climactic set-piece. Which, as producer Deborah Snyder points out, anchors the fateful rebellion in something real. ‘It’s super-organic, and such a juxtaposition with some of the other sci-fi worlds,’ she says with a smile. ‘It’s what we’re fighting for. It’s the heart of the story, and it grounds the movie.’