[Editor’s Note: The following interview contains spoilers for Rebel Moon: Part 2 — The Scargiver]

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver is officially streaming on Netflix and fans of Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic are in for a really heartbreaking treat with his second installment in the brand-new franchise. Ahead of the film’s premiere, I had the opportunity to take part in Netflix’s junket for the film, and I came prepared with a mix of heartbreaking questions for Snyder, Sofia Boutella, and Michiel Huisman, and more upbeat questions for this trio of rebels. You can watch my interview with DjimonHonsou, StazNair, and EliseDuffy in the player above or read on to see the full transcript of our conversation.

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver picks up right on the heels of Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire, with Kora (Boutella) and Gunnar (Huisman) preparing the people of Veldt to go up against their oppressors from the Motherworld. After besting Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) at the end of Part One, Kora quickly learns that he escaped death and now, back on Veldt, he’s looking for blood again. While Part Two does play upon similar themes and beats from the first entry in the franchise, the final act is a far more definitive end for a handful of characters who escaped death the first time.

During our upbeat interview, Staz Nair took center stage by giving some of the most insightful and thoughtful answers to my questions, particularly when it came to his dream of seeing a Rebel Moon spin-off centered around Honsou’s General Titus. In addition to conjuring up spin-off ideas and threequels, the trio discussed the real-life inspirations behind their characters, character dynamics, and so much more.

Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver Release Date April 19, 2024 Director Zack Snyder Main Genre Sci-Fi Writers Shay Hatten , Kurt Johnstad , Zack Snyder

Djimon Honsou Says ‘Rebel Moon’ Mimics Our Own Reality

COLLIDER: My first question for each of you is what has it been like to be part of an IP from the ground up? Has it been exciting? Has it been daunting? What has that experience been like?

DJIMON HOUNSOU: It’s been both of those things.

STAZ NAIR: Exactly.

HOUNSOU: Exciting, daunting. Of course, we have a couple characters in which we couldn’t really identify, because it’s a world in space, right? But the story mimics, very much, our reality.

ELISE DUFFY: I feel like it’s cool because there’s so much discovery with it. Even being on set, you read “ship” on the page, and then you get to go and see it, that Zack’s made a model of when you’re there. So, it’s very exciting.

NAIR: We had a similar question earlier, and I think I’ll say the same thing I said last time. It is as equally exciting as it is daunting, because on one side, we’re all spectators and fans. That’s why we love what we do. It’s why we invest in what we do as much as we do. It’s really like a child-like nostalgic dream-come-true to live in these worlds that are larger than life. And instead of escaping into them as a spectator, we’ve been privileged enough to escape into them as artists. When you have someone like Zack, who has such a clear vision of what he wants, and still an openness to collaborate and give us the freedom to discover what this character means for ourselves, you forget about the daunting aspects, and you just lean into the exciting aspects, and have a lot of fun.

The Cast of ‘Rebel Moon’ Found Inspiration in Surprising Sources

I’m always really interested to learn about the process of creating characters. I’m somebody who likes to create playlists when I have characters, and build them up from that. Were there any real-life figures or maybe historical figures, or maybe characters from other properties or songs that really resonated with each of you as you were building your characters and finding their voice?

NAIR: Well, Djimon’s coming out with an album, speaking of songs. So, maybe he can take that. [Laughs] What I’ll say is, music definitely is very evocative, I think, for all of us. There were definitely songs that helped me access — I won’t say them because they’re mine, if that makes sense, but songs that made me access necessary emotions that were, really, really conducive to getting the performance how I wanted to.

But for me specifically, I wouldn’t say there was that kind of historical figure. However, because I am part Indian, and Tarak himself has the Samandrai kind of quality — connected to birds, connected to Earth — I saw these kinds of interesting parallels between that. I wanted to play a level of empathy and stillness that comes from some kind of connection to something greater than yourself, kind of more of a hopeful salt of the earth aspect, which was loads of fun. And also nobility, right? For me, I looked at it to be like energy centers — is it Chekhov who did energy centers? I forget. It’s like, where does your energy center come from? And, you know, with nobility, there’s something about the posture and how we stand, and how does that inform the character? So, it was really fun to play around with that. I waffled. Sorry.

I love that. Djimon, Elise, do you have any?

HOUNSOU: Yes, I do. In respect to Rebel Moon and the character of General Titus, I would reference that with the makeup of Nelson Mandela, for example. Somebody who spent a quarter of a century in jail and still came out with so much wisdom, political wisdom.

NAIR: And hope, as well.

HOUNSOU: And hope. He reinstated hope in the minds of the people.

NAIR: Like you did in this.

HOUNSOU: And not just that nation, but worldwide, you know?

DUFFY: For Milius, Zack has talked about Percival being a character reference, and I think that was a big influence for me. The sort of youthful warrior. And then there were a couple of anime references for me, actually.

What Might Happen in a ‘Rebel Moon Part 3’?

I love that so much. So as my last question for you, if we get a third film, which I’m hopeful with the way this one ends, are there any aspects of your characters’ dynamics with other characters that you hope to see more of, or maybe something from their past that you hope we’ll get to explore more on screen?

NAIR: I’d love to see all of our redemption stories kind of progress. Kora, here, finds a level of redemption by understanding that she wasn’t actually the murderer of the same person she chose to protect. I would love to see us get our versions of that. It would be great if it was, like, movie by movie we go back to our own planets and liberate our own people in whatever way, if our worlds even exist. I forget to remember which worlds are destroyed and which ones are just captured, but that would be wonderful.

And Part Two really glimpses into the interpersonal relationships, which was so much fun to kind of develop. I really hope to see more of that because we just get to put more of ourselves and our relationships into it, which is just beautiful. I think people come for the action and come for the beauty of it, but they stay for the characters, and then they stay for the relationships. So, I would love to see more of that. All of them.

I agree with you on that front. Absolutely.

DUFFY: I just want to see what other planets are in this galaxy.

NAIR: I just want to keep exploring.

HOUNSOU: I just want to see how General Titus evolves in a redeeming fashion, because again, the likelihood that he, personally, was at the receiving end of committing a number of atrocities, I think that’s a trauma, that’s a haunting trauma. It would be nice to see that.

NAIR: It would be interesting to see because, obviously, I mean, I won’t speak for your character, but I feel like the alcoholism was a way of masking, and you said escaping the sobriety and what came with the sobriety. Obviously, there’s a level of us coming together and giving you enough strength or purpose to stop drinking. But I think you’re right; it would be very interesting to see where that clarity takes you. When you haven’t got something to fight for, when it’s safe for a week, what then happens? How do you then face those demons and traumas, and how do they come up? I think you’re very right. I’d love to see that, too. Spin-off!

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver is streaming now on Netflix.

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