Rebel Moon Writer Promises More Jimmy, Additional Backstories in R-Rated Snyder Cut

There are two different versions of Zack Snyder’s new movie, and fans of the filmmaker are waiting anxiously to see what the extended, R-rated cut of Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire has to offer. The PG-13 edition debuted on Netflix last week and has quickly taken over the streamer’s charts. The two-part story was always planned as R-rated films, but Snyder worked with Netflix to create shorter, more accessible versions for teenage viewers. The tamer version is what’s currently on Netflix, but the R-rated cut has already been confirmed for a release in the future.

Rebel Moon co-writer Kurt Johnstad recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his work on Rebel Moon, and he revealed that the “Snyder Cut” of the first film will include a lot of backstory that had to be removed in the shorter version.

“There’s definitely a lot more story at the front of the movie,” Johnstad said. “You’re definitely going to get a lot more Jimmy and see his arc, and you’re going to get a lot more of Kora and the Motherworld. You’re going to get a different introduction to Noble. You’re also going to get a different introduction to some smaller characters like Aris [Sky Yang], who’s the Motherworld soldier that defends the character of Sam in the granary. So you get an interesting look into why he is now constricted as a slave soldier of the Motherworld and how he got there. So his arc is much more defined. But just in broad brushstrokes, there’s more character, and certainly knowing Zack, there’s more action and spectacle and the visual vibrance of what he does. 

“There’s definitely a lot more mythology, and a deeper understanding of the Motherworld and their intention, and what the rebellion is coming up against. So there just wasn’t enough time. It would’ve been a four-hour PG-13 movie.”

“Hardcore” Cut of Rebel Moon

Rebel Moon star Ed Skrein has also talked about the extended, R-rated edition of the movie. He recently told THR that the longer cut is more violent and takes more creative chances.

“When I watch something, I just want to see something new. I don’t need to love something. I don’t need to find it perfect. I can see flaws in it, whether it’s a painting, a song or a film, but if it’s new, then I come away and say, ‘Wow, that was great. That made me feel something.’ So you’re going to see something f—ing new in that R-rated cut, and we’ve never seen anything like it,” the actor said. “We’ve seen Lars von Trier push cinema to the edges. We’ve seen Saw and Hostile and all those kinds of movies push violence quite far for a commercial entity, and of course, we’ve seen what we did with Deadpool. That film pushed the superhero genre to another place, but there was still comedy involved in that. But this s–t is not funny. This is f—ed-up empires in space and evil human nature evolving and playing out on an intergalactic level. It’s hardcore.”