Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon: A Unique Space Opera Inspired by George Lucas and Star Wars

Rebel Moon: A Wholly Original Space Opera

Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon - Part 1: A Child of Fire is being compared to Star Wars, and there's a lot of reasons why Snyder's new movie should remind audiences of George Lucas' space opera. Snyder's new Netflix sci-fi/fantasy movie does share some DNA with the galaxy far, far away, but the similarities are actually a result of Zack Snyder and George Lucas having similar inspirations and process, and not a result of Snyder 'copying' Star Wars.

Kora (Sofia Boutella) from Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire next to Rey (Daisy Ridley) from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

While most major modern blockbuster movies or TV series are remakes, reboots, or based on existing IP like books or comics, Rebel Moon is a wholly original property conceived by Zack Snyder. Despite being an entirely new universe, Rebel Moon takes inspiration from numerous sci-fi/fantasy stories and contains a number of familiar elements, such as its plot, where a team of warriors is assembled to protect a farming village, which is inspired by the plot of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Ultimately, the similarities between Star Wars and Rebel Moon arise because Zack Snyder and George Lucas were doing something very similar in their approach to story and mythology.

Zack Snyder Rebel Moon Star Wars Seven Samurai

Rebel Moon began as a pitch to Snyder's film school teacher as 'Dirty Dozen or Seven Samurai in space' in the late 1980s and has been through numerous stages of development in the decades since. At one point, prior to the release of Man of Steel, Snyder briefly met with Lucasfilm to discuss adapting the Rebel Moon story to fit into the Star Wars universe. The meeting happened after George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney and Kathleen Kennedy became Lucasfilm President, but before the initial sequel trilogy slate or plans for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or Solo: A Star Wars Story had been finalized.

Zack Snyder Rebel Moon George Lucas

Rebel Moon: Inspiration and Mythology

Rebel Moon also gets its basic concept from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and Kurosawa was also a major influence of George Lucas and Star Wars, particularly the movie Hidden Fortress, which had the biggest impact on the plot of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Seven Samurai Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian

Decades later, Star Wars is seen as a wholly original property, but at the time of its original release it was considered derivative because George Lucas blended so many of his favorite genre influences into the story, characters, and aesthetic. Lucas was strongly influenced by westerns, pulp sci-fi like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, Arthurian mythology, and more. Snyder's sensibilities overlap in a few areas, although his influences are a little darker and come from a few decades newer than Lucas'.

rebel moon compared to star wars and dune

While Lucas is inspired by Arthurian myth, Snyder is specifically inspired by John Boorman's Excalibur. Lucas incorporated aspects of Edgar Rice Burroughs's John Carter of Mars, while Snyder is influenced by Conan the Barbarian. Where Lucas prefers Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, Snyder was shaped by the adult-illustrated fantasy magazine Heavy Metal. When the two filmmakers wrap their inspirations up in the trappings of Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, Rebel Moon may rhyme with Star Wars at points, but only because Snyder shares inspiration with George Lucas, not because Star Wars itself was his sole inspiration.

Zack Snyder and George Lucas: Alternate Cuts and Creative Freedom

Zack Snyder and George Lucas are both known for releasing alternate cuts of their movies, although for every different reasons and with very different receptions. For Lucas, the Star Wars movies were embraced and loved for years before he started releasing alternate versions with minor tweaks and changes throughout resulting in some major controversy such as 'Han shot first.' Lucas claimed his changes merely brought the movies more in line with his original visions for Star Wars, although the insertion of new CGI VFX and changes to fan-favorite moments make the special editions one of Star Wars' biggest controversies.

George Lucas and the posters of the Star Wars prequels

Meanwhile, Zack Snyder has also released numerous alternate cuts of his own movies, although typically they're more positively received. In fact, Snyder's penchant for superior director's cuts is likely one of the most well-known things about his filmography, particularly after the massive fan campaign to 'release the Snyder cut' of Justice League. Now, with Rebel Moon, Snyder is planning his director's cuts ahead of time, shooting both a two-hour PG-13 version side-by-side with a three-hour R-rated version of the same story. While a decidedly different in many ways, it makes sense that Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon - A Child of Fire reminds a lot of people of George Lucas and Star Wars.

Zack Snyder in front of the Justice League