Netflix is smartly avoiding WB's biggest Zack Snyder DCEU mistake with Rebel Moon. After years of troubled productions, divisive reviews, and uncertain box office returns at Warner Bros., Zack Snyder is seeing a totally different reality with his new partner, Netflix.
giving him far more creative freedom to tell his stories.
Snyder's relationship with Netflix isn't only creating better working conditions for Snyder and his cast and crew, but it's also resulting in more creative trust as Snyder launches more projects for the streaming giant, such as Rebel Moon. With the decision made to shoot two movies back to back, Netflix is avoiding a major mistake Warner Bros. made with Snyder.
Justice League Was Supposed to Shoot Multiple Parts at Once
Justice League was originally announced as a two-part movie and largely speculated they'd shoot back-to-back; however, the multi-part story was dropped in early Justice League rewrites after the blowback from part 2 & 3 back-to-back if he were to hypothetically have the chance to return for his story.
If Warner Bros had simply stuck to the original plan, Snyder's version of Justice League would have been released in November 2017, and Justice League 2 would have been released 18 months later in June 2019, and then the story would have been completed. Even if it ended up being a three-part story, assuming they were all shot back to back, the third part would have come out before the Snyder Cut was released, meaning Warner Bros. could move on from Zack Snyder naturally without all the behind the scenes drama caused by Snyder's replacement, making the Snyderverse a monkey on the studio's back since 2017.
Considering the strong reception of Zack Snyder's Justice League, even converting some of Snyder's finally seeing where the story was going, it's clear second-guessing Snyder's original Justice League was a bad call. By producing Snyder's whole Justice League story at once, the studio would come off as having faith in their filmmakers and standing by them until the story came around. Instead, the studio established a reputation for being panicked and reactionary, a problem that still persists today given recent news of another DC movie overhaul plan.
Zack Snyder is Shooting Rebel Moon Part 1 and 2 Together For Netflix
Rebel Moon is a significant project for Snyder, not just because it's his original story, but also it's one the director has been trying to make for years. It originated as a pitch for a Star Wars movie Snyder was developing with George Lucas prior to Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, but has since been adapted as an original universe. In the interim, Snyder didn't only remove the overt connections to the Star Wars universe but also continued to flesh out the story beyond his original pitch, at one point developing it into a potential series before Netflix finally decided to green-light it as two movies.
Snyder has already praised the creative liberty he has with Netflix, so it's clear the streamer is a much better suit for his talents, but the approach to Rebel Moon is another big sign of confidence, as the decision to shoot part 1 and part 2 at the same time will ensure Snyder's creative vision is protected and not disrupted by critical or audience reception, budget changes, actor schedules, or any of the other numerous potential issues.
Rebel Moon 1 & 2 is a Huge Vote of Confidence by Netflix
Beyond ensuring Snyder's creative vision, greenlighting Rebel Moon's back-to-back production is also a show of confidence Netflix hasn't given to any other project. While many of Netflix's biggest performers like Army of the Dead are getting sequels, Rebel Moon is the first time Netflix has green-lit two franchise installments for simultaneous production.
So far, the only Snyder movie Netflix has released is Army of the Dead, along with the Snyder-produced Army of Thieves, indicating even greater faith in Snyder and the Rebel Moon concept from Netflix, since it's an original concept with no prior installment from which to judge potential. While Snyder is most famous for comic book movies, Rebel Moon could become his most iconic original work.
While a misstep for Rebel Moon part 1 would hardly be the same as a misstep with Justice Leauge if Neflix had decided to produce one movie at a time, it still ensures the entire story will be told without influence of the original movie's reception, which is a problem none of his DC movies avoided. Shooting the movies together means it'll be the first Snyder sequel to truly be judged as his uncompromised vision, which is a big deal considering the typical discourse surrounding him as a director.
