The Intentional Familiarity of Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire

A Mash-Up of On-The-Nose Genre Tropes

Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire has been criticized for having elements that feel too familiar to a number of other sci-fi and fantasy properties, totally missing the fact that it's intentionally a mash-up of on-the-nose genre tropes. Zack Snyder drew from numerous inspirations for Rebel Moon's story, characters, and aesthetic, and the resulting look, feel, and story of Rebel Moon are a product of generations of storytelling put through Snyder's personal creative lens and stylistic flair.

Zack Snyder Rebel Moon Star Wars Seven Samurai

From the plot to the characters to the style of the world, Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire's familiarity is intentional. The story was taken from Seven Samurai, the characters are all heavily informed by genre tropes, and the style of each world is taken from a variety of other sci-fi and fantasy sources. Not only is this the point, it's completely normal for any big sci-fi or fantasy property to be flavored by what came before.

The warriors preparing to fight in The Seven Samurai.

The Influence of Seven Samurai

The plot of Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire sees a small village seek out a team of warriors to help defend it against the looming threat of an enemy army, and anyone who's seen more than a few movies likely recognizes the story. The plot of Seven Samurai is one of the most heavily referenced or re-adapted stories, making Seven Samurai its own trope with a dedicated page on tvtropes.org. Using a famously adapted story for the plot of Rebel Moon wasn't an accident. In fact, it was the entire purpose, as it was embedded in Snyder's initial conception of the movie in the 1980s when he described it as Seven Samurai or Dirty Dozen in space to his film professor.

The bugs smiling in A Bug's Life

This intentional use of such a well-known story as the foundation of Rebel Moon's plot is a common practice, especially in the sci-fi and fantasy genre, where popular stories often draw from classic narratives and tropes to create new and innovative interpretations.

The Magnificent Seven standing in a line with guns pointed

The Influence of Joseph Campbell

Beyond the basic Seven Samurai-inspired story of Rebel Moon, there's another kind of familiarity with a number of the character arcs, particularly Kora's, because Zack Snyder is a big fan of Joseph Cambell's monomyth. Campbell's hero's journey is more descriptive than prescriptive, but the pattern is traceable to ancient stories and myths across cultures and time periods from Homer's The Odyssey to Beowulf to the story of Buddha to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and numerous other stories before Campbell identified it. This is another element that makes Rebel Moon feel intentionally familiar, as Zack Snyder's approach to the story participates in a long-held Campbellian tradition of storytelling and myth-making.

The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.

Snyder's deliberate use of Joseph Campbell's monomyth in crafting the character arcs in Rebel Moon adds depth and richness to the narrative, connecting it to a long tradition of storytelling that spans across cultures and time periods.

Sofia Boutella as Kora in Rebel Moon Part 1