The Rebel Moon universe is a big place, full of warring planets and exotic alien creatures –– the kind of world it would be easy to get lost in. Fortunately, we’ve got the perfect guide on this particular journey: director Zack Snyder himself. Snyder has created an intergalactic epic across the two massive Rebel Moon films, with the first part coming this December and the second in 2024. 

“I have a love of team-building movies,” Snyder tells Netflix. “Even in college where they would ask us what kind of a movie we were going to make when we get out of school, I think I probably said, ‘I’m going to make a movie space team-building underdog movie.’ ” Rebel Moon is that movie.

Part One, subtitled A Child of Fire, follows the heroes of Veldt, a peaceful, agrarian moon colony under threat from the marauding imperial warships of Motherworld, governed by the menacing Imperium. Desperate for aid, the villagers send a young woman (Sofia Boutella) to gather together a force of formidable warriors who can protect them. Also starring Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Michiel Huisman, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Charlie Hunnam, Staz Nair, Elise Duffy, and Anthony Hopkins, Rebel Moon is a sweeping science-fantasy saga on a canvas that only Snyder could paint. 

Above, you can see the first footage from Rebel Moon, and below, Snyder helps us break down everything you might have missed. Join us in orbit.

The legend of Kora

Rebel Moon’s protagonist Kora is played by Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Star Trek Beyond). She’s a woman on a mission: to save Veldt from the Imperium and its fearsome Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee). Kora has her own bloody history with the Imperium as ‘the Scargiver’ — hence the title of Rebel Moon Part Two: Scargiver. “I am a child of war,” she intones as we see a younger Kora in action on an icy battlefield. “I was taught that love is weakness.” She may have to learn otherwise in order to save Veldt. 

Boutella, a former dancer, brings Kora a visceral physicality that endeared Snyder to her immediately. “I pitched her from the beginning,” Snyder says of Boutella. “I had her in mind for some reason. That happens to me with casting. I’ll see someone and be like, ‘I’m going to put them in a movie. I’m going to figure it out.’ ” 

Meet Jimmy

The teaser is narrated by the mellifluous tones of two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins. In Rebel Moon, Hopkins voices Jimmy, a sentient robot guardian cast aside in the wake of his king’s assassination. “I was given memories of a world I will never see,” Jimmy says over images of a somber procession, “loyalty to a king I cannot serve, and love for a child I could not save.” This is the backstory of Rebel Moon. Jimmy is a reminder of that past, a wandering soul whose journey is ongoing. We catch glimpses of him throughout the trailer, wearing a flower crown and later, what appear to be antlers.

“Jimmy’s really, in a lot of ways, the heart of the movie,” Snyder says. “Jimmy goes through this kind of spiritual transformation where he has to embrace this notion of fighting for something other than what he was programmed to fight for.” 

A not-so itsy-bitsy spider

Snyder’s Sucker Punch and Batman v Superman star Jena Malone returns to the fold as Harmada, a spider-like alien who faces off with Doona Bae’s expert swordswoman, Nemesis, in the teaser. She’s one of several otherworldly creatures who appear in the trailer, including a four-armed beast and a squid-faced humanoid being. Some are friends, some are foes, some are caught somewhere in-between.

Malone did a full prosthetic build for the role of Harmada, an experience she was unfamiliar with. “I told her about the character and she was like, ‘Yeah, that sounds cool. That sounds fun. It’s weird,’ ” Snyder tells us. “She’s just an incredible actress and really dug into the whole ‘why’ of it.”

The return of Ray Fisher

The dreadlocked, gun-toting warrior who appears on an explosive battlefield is played by Snyder’s Justice League star Ray Fisher. Back then, he was Cyborg, the heart and soul of the fledgling superhero team; here, he’s Darrian Bloodaxe, a skilled insurgent who has been harrying the Imperium with guerrilla attacks alongside his sister Devra. He’ll next be seen in The Piano Lesson on Netflix, reprising his role from the 2022 Broadway production. 

“Always a joy to work with Ray,” Snyder says. “He really created the character, in his physicality and in his embodiment. He’s always just strong and lovely.” 

Anything but noble

Ed Skrein is all over the teaser as the Rebel Moon crew’s heartless opponent, Admiral Atticus Noble. Dressed in the bloodless formal garb of the Imperium, Noble stalks through smoke and fire on his mission to stop the ragtag group of heroes. Eventually, he rolls up his sleeves and gets his hands dirty himself. Motherworld has sent its very best to Veldt.

“Ed is a nutcase in this movie,” Snyder says. “He’s amazingly disciplined and dedicated and meticulous, but his character, Noble, is completely unhinged.” But Noble isn’t just a loose cannon; he’s something much darker. “He’s the status quo,” says Snyder. “He’s the government.”

Bennu and the Jets

The teaser features a look at two different bennus, the griffin-like war mount of the Rebel Moon universe. One white bennu walks in the king’s funeral procession; the other soars through the air with Tarak (Staz Nair), an indentured servant who joins Kora on her mission. The latter appears in the trailer’s showstopping moment, a signature speed-ramped Snyder frame that catches Tarak as he jumps from a cliff onto the bennu’s back. 

“[The bennus] come from Tarak’s home planet, originally,” Snyder says. “They’re kind of like the horses of their world.” Indeed, if you look a little closer at Tarak, you’ll see his necklace bears a small bennu pendant. “You’re going to find out about Tarak’s backstory in Part Two,” Snyder adds. About that…

An intergalactic epic

The final reveal of the trailer is a tantalizing one: the announcement of the two Rebel Moon films’ release dates. Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire will get a special early release on Netflix on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET, but the story doesn’t end there — only four months later (April 19, 2024, to be exact), Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver arrives to close the loop.

Stay tuned for more information about the spacebound story of Rebel Moon, and hit the jump to lightspeed this December when Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire drops on Netflix.

Additional reporting by Maddie Saaf.