Djimon Hounsou Reveals How Rebel Moon Brought Friendship With Zack Snyder Full Circle

Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire arrives on Netflix this weekend, ushering in a whole new genre franchise from Zack Snyder. The live-action saga features a pretty surprising ensemble cast, some of whom had not properly worked with Snyder prior to that point. Among them is Djimon Hounsou, who portrays Titus in the film — and whose partnership with Snyder is literally decades in the making. As Hounsou recently explained to ComicBook.com, when Snyder asked him to consider appearing in Rebel Moon, he discovered that they had met years prior, while they both were starting out in their respective careers.

"It would seem like I've known this story for 30 years, right?" Housou explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "Here's my little story with Zack. I get a call to talk about Rebel Moon, and in the midst of it, he announced that 'Well, it would be great to see you again.' I was like, 'Hey, wait a second.' I mean, honestly, on the phone, I just said, 'Wait a second, have we? I mean, it could be my apology, but we met before?' And that's when he began to describe, letting me know how I used to go to the film school as a model and pose for those young creative artists, students like himself. He took pictures of me back then, when I was freshly in California, with the dream of being an actor."

Will There Be a Rebel Moon Director's Cut?

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Snyder revealed that both film installments of Rebel Moon will have R-rated director's cuts, which will be released on Netflix at a later date. According to Snyder, elements of the grand Rebel Moon story are completely different in the longer cut of the film.

"It's a full hour longer," Snyder revealed. "It's not just slightly different or a little bit more. There are big chunks of the movie that are different. A lot more stuff is fleshed out."

"Zack is a world-builder," producer Wesley Coller explained. "He loves the layering of a world and the details of a story and the nuances of a character. His process always has him doing so much exploring what's under the hood, not just what we see on screen. Having the opportunity to take this fresh idea and build all of that out, asking this question over here and finding the answer to that over there, was the most exciting part to him." 

What Is Rebel Moon About?

In Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire, when a peaceful settlement on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a mysterious stranger living among the villagers, becomes their best hope for survival. Tasked with finding trained fighters who will unite with her in making an impossible stand against the Motherworld, Kora assembles a small band of warriors — outsiders, insurgents, peasants and orphans of war from different worlds who share a common need for redemption and revenge. As the shadow of an entire Realm bears down on the unlikeliest of moons, a new army of heroes is formed.

"This is me growing up as an Akira Kurosawa fan, a Star Wars fan," Snyder said in a statement when the film was first announced. "It's my love of sci-fi and a giant adventure. My hope is that this also becomes a massive IP and a universe that can be built out... I've spent the last two or three years building out this universe. Every corner has to be painted in. I've been doing designs, constantly drawing and really cultivating its fertile ground to make this world fully realized."

Are you excited for Rebel Moon? What do you think of these new comments from Djimon Hounsou? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire will be released exclusively on Netflix on Friday, December 22nd.