Summary
Rebel Moonhas seemingly failed in its grand strategy to cause a resurgence and change public opinion with the vastly different director’s cuts for its films, and it seems to have taken another franchise down with it
WhileZack Snyderis most well-known now for his time at the head of the now-defunct DCEU franchise, colloquially referred to as the Snyderverse, the filmmaker’s career has been notable both before his tenure at DC and since being replaced by James Gunn and Peter Safran. His directorial debut would come in 2004’sDawn of the Dead,a film he’d make a spiritual successor to in his more recentArmy of the Deadfranchise. The films would emerge from the same partnership with Netflix that spawnedRebel Moon,and had similarly ambitious plans. It would even be revealed thatSnyder’sRebel Moon and Army Of The Deadfranchises existed in a shared universe, sparking discussions of consequential crossovers in future projects.
While it was previously unclear whether the two franchises would ever cross over or whetherthe planned sequelPlanet of the Deadwould ever be released, fans now know the answer for certain, and it seems to be thanks toRebel Moon.In a recent report fromTheWrapon Snyder’sRebel Moonmachinations, it was reported that all planned future installments in theArmy of the Deadfranchise had been quietly scrapped at Netflix, marking a significant change in the working relationship between the streamer and the embattled filmmaker. While no reason was given, it’s very likely that the failure ofRebel Moonis to blame.
The report, which fairly extensively focused onSnyder trying to make the director’s cut his signature move, gives this information as a passing note in the piece. It also quotes Snyder as noting that he and his wife and creative partner, Deborah, “are very ambitious with everything.” According to the duo, theArmy of the Deadfranchise isn’t down and out just yet, as there’s still a planned themed experience based on the films being done at Six Flags. However, the highly anticipated anime adaptation of the franchise, as well as all future films in development, have joined the Dead.
There seems to be no recourse for the Snyders, as the recently releaseddirector’s cuts forRebel Moon Parts 1 and 2aren’t doing greatwith critics and audiences, according to reviews. While the two R-rated editions have seen a fair improvement in he review scores from the PG-13 versions, that means very little as both those films fell below 50% on aggregator sites. By Snyder’s own admission, the two films are entirely different from the base versions, so much so that they’re alternate realities to one another in his mind. With this second string of failures, Snyder’s next major focus should now turn toTwilight of the Gods, an adult animated project in development for release on Netflix in September. With Snyder not getting a writing credit on it, it’s possible that this project will be insulated from his current streak of misses.
All his most recent projects seem to confirm thatSnyder’s signature style really does work against himin the modern day, as the appeal and novelty of sparkly visual storytelling have truly fallen off since the filmmaker’s success with300.It’ll be interesting to see where Snyder goes from here, but with any luck, it’ll be back to the drawing board. Fans will have to wait and see for themselves what comes next for the filmmaker following the decline of his current projects.
