Rebel Moon Interview: Zack Snyder, Sofia Boutella and Ed Skrein

Last Updated on December 29, 2023

It’s finally here – the first half of Zack Snyder’s two-part space epic, Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire, makes its debut on Netflix tonight. It’s been a long run-up to the release of what famously began as a pitch Snyder made to Lucasfilm, only for the director to make his Magnificent Seven-style space opera as an original film. The movie premiered last week (read our review), and truth be told, the reaction was controversial, to say the least. Many critics slammed the movie with a surprising amount of venom, but then again, Snyder’s always been a director who provokes strong reactions in people – both good (the Snyder Cult movement) and bad.

I was one of the few critics to really enjoy Rebel Moon, so I was excited to participate in the press junket last week. I was able to interview almost all of the cast, and in honour of the film’s release, here’s the first batch of interviews (embedded above) where I speak with Sofia Boutella, who plays the heroine Kora, Ed Skrein, who plays the villainous Admiral Noble, and Snyder himself.

I had a lot of fun with these interviews, with Snyder telling me about how this started as a Star Wars pitch and how he dislikes action films where the heroes are physically invulnerable. Indeed, that’s a topic that carried over to my discussion with Boutella, who discusses how she trained hard for the role but never wanted to lose Kora’s physical vulnerability, as at the end of the day, she’s not supposed to be a superhero. I also had a blast talking to the very friendly Ed Skrein, who proudly mentioned that he has a collection of all the weapons he’s used as villains on display in his London home, including the club he uses here, which he affectionately named Stella.

Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire premieres on Netflix tonight. Keep an eye out for more Rebel Moon interviews next week!