Summary
Netflix has finally announced its release plan for the director’s cuts of Zack Snyder’sRebel Moon– and it’s a rare promising sign for Snyder’s troubled sci-fi franchise. The streamer releasedRebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fireon July 23, 2025, and followed it up withRebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiveron June 23, 2025. The plan was for the buzz aroundPart Oneto drum up excitement forPart Twoin the four-month interim. But that backfired, becausePart Onewas universally panned by critics and audiences alike, so there was very little excitement forPart Two.
Since before the firstRebel Moonfilm was released, Snyder has teased that there were R-rated director’s cuts on the way. He wantedRebel Moonto be a hard-R actioner, but Netflix wanted to expand the potential audience with a family-friendly PG-13 rating.Their compromise was to release two versions of eachRebel Moonfilm: one rated PG-13 with very little sex and graphic violence, and one rated R with all that stuff in spades. After months of teases, Netflix has finally announced when it’ll be releasingthe R-ratedRebel Moondirector’s cuts– and it’s a surprisingly good sign.
Rebel Moon Part 2 Ending Explained
Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver sees the rebels fight back against the Imperium, while the ending sets up a future adventure.
Rebel Moon Part 1 & 2’s Director’s Cut Will Come Out The Same Day
They’ll both arrive on Netflix on August 2
Netflix has announced that it’llrelease bothRebel Moondirector’s cuts on August 2. This all-at-once release strategy is more in line with the model that Netflix pioneered for its original TV shows: giving audiences everything on the same day and letting them binge-watch it in their own time. To differentiate them from the PG-13 versions,the R-rated cuts have been given new titles.Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Firehas been renamedRebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of BloodandRebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiverhas been renamedRebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness.
Why It’s Best For Rebel Moon To Release Both Snyder Cuts On The Same Day
Netflix already tried and failed to build anticipation around Rebel Moon
Releasing both of the R-ratedRebel Mooncuts on the same day is the best release strategy for Netflix. They already tried leaving a few months between each one with the initial PG-13 releases, and it didn’t go too well. OnceRebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Firehad been eviscerated by critics and dismissed by audiences,there was no anticipation whatsoever for the story’s supposedly epic conclusioninRebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver. If viewers had been able to go straight fromPart OnetoPart Two, it might’ve been a different story.
The first part spends its entire runtime getting the team together, going from one shady place to the next and picking up interchangeable gunslingers along the way. It’s a tedious, long-winded version of what could’ve been a montage in a more tightly edited, single-movie version ofRebel Moon. The second part is a slight improvement in that it delivers on the high-octane action promised by Snyder’s “Seven Samuraiin space” premise. But it was still marred by one-dimensional characters and a complete lack of emotional engagement. Each movie’s flaws wouldn’t have been as obvious if they could’ve been viewed together.
There’s already been plenty of backlash to just the notion of Snyder releasing longer, R-rated versions of theRebel Moonfilms. This is very different fromtheJustice Leaguesituation, where Snyder returned to a project he’d had to depart to complete his incomplete vision. The promise ofRebel Moon’s director’s cuts always seemed like it was more of a marketing strategy by Netflix to get more minutes watched. Sincethe original versions weren’t well-received anyway, it’s best for Netflix and Snyder to just release the director’s cuts and get them out there already. There’s no use building suspense.
Snyder has teased thatRebel Moonis the first of three two-part movies.
How Different Will Rebel Moon’s Zack Snyder Cuts Be?
For starters, the director’s cuts are much longer
Snyder has teased that the R-ratedRebel Moondirector’s cuts are completely different movies than the PG-13 versions. They won’t just be the same movies with some CG blood splashes added into the action scenes. For starters, the director’s cuts will be a lot longer. Whereas the original PG-13 versions of theRebel Moonfilms collectively run for just over four hours,the R-rated versions clock in at over six hours.Part Oneis expanded from 134 minutes to 201 minutes andPart Twois expanded from 122 minutes to 170 minutes.
The longer runtime suggests that Snyder won’t just be extending scenes that appeared in the original films;he might actually be adding in scenes that were too racy for the PG-13 versions. One of the biggest complaints about the PG-13Rebel Mooncuts was that the characters lacked depth. Audiences couldn’t connect with them emotionally, so they didn’t really care when they got killed. If the R-ratedRebel Moonmovies include a few extra scenes that round out those characters, then they could actually improve the viewing experience.
Rebel Moon
Cast
From director Zack Snyder comes Rebel Moon, a sci-fi action movie set in the depths of space and following a colony that is facing the threat of Regent Balisarius. Sofia Boutella plays a warrior charged with recruiting others in the fight against the tyrant, and his unstoppable forces that are dead set on conquest.
