Rebel Moon Director's Cut trailer teases Zack Snyder's 'true vision' for his latest Netflix movies – and I don't know why it wasn't released first

You can’t say Zack Snyder doesn’t keep his promises: The Director’s Cuts of both Rebel Moon movies, including Rebel Moon Part 1 and Rebel Moon Part 2, are coming in August 2024, and the newly released trailer makes them look rather thrilling.

If you were expecting the new Netflix movies to be the same as the originals with the gore filter turned off, I think you’ll be in for a surprise. While the blurb promises a “viciously sexier, bloodier world” and the trailer is definitely R-rated, there appear to be some significant new characters and scenes.

Which begs the question, why didn’t Netflix just release this version to begin with?

Rebel Moon â The Director’s Cut | Official Red Band Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
Rebel Moon â The Director's Cut | Official Red Band Trailer | Netflix - YouTube

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What’s so special about the Rebel Moon director’s cut?

According to Snyder, “you really get to see a lot. It’s just more painted-in all the way… it’s really a revelation because it gives that second kick at the can for big fans.” But even the cast were surprised by how long the director’s cut versions are, with a whopping six hours of potentially bum-numbing viewing between the two movies’ extended versions. So you can understand why Netflix went for the shorter versions initially. Even the titles are long: part one is now called Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood and the second is Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness.

The core story will remain the same, of course, but Snyder promises that the new versions will be tonally, chronologically and emotionally different. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly a few weeks ago, he explained: “Tonally, they’re completely different. They’re each an hour longer. They’re three hours each, and there are tons of scenes that aren’t in the initial versions.”

He continued: “We went so far into the weeds with it to the point that even within the body of the movie, a line that was the same in PG-13 as it is in R might be a different take of the same line. Emotionally, it’s more like a parallel universe than an extended version. Things happen that in the R-rated version that don’t happen in the PG-13. The event order is all different, so it’s really an interesting exercise.”

The director’s cut of both movies will be available to stream from August 2, on Netflix.