Since leaving the clutches of the DC universe, Zack Snyder has branched out with a series of his own original ideas. The first of these was his 2021 zombie film, Army of the Dead. The next will be his expansive sci-fi, Rebel Moon. As it turns out, these two properties actually exist in the same universe and there’s an Easter egg in Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire that lays the groundwork for their eventual crossover.
Ahead of Rebel Moon: Part One’s release, Gizmodo Australia spoke with Snyder at the Tokyo premiere about whether there might be a crossover between the two films, to which the director responded:
“We don’t have plans for a crossover yet, but it’s possible. We just sort of wanted to do the early work.”
As Games Radar reported earlier in the year, a character from Rebel Moon was once intended to appear in the Army of the Dead animated series. While that series never ended up being released, Snyder is hedging his bets that his shared universe may still come to be, placing that same character in Rebel Moon – Part One as an easter egg for fans.
“We had that Xanadite in the bar, who possibly could exist in Army of the Dead. I know how they could exist, but it’s a mystery to [other] people. There’s a deep dive that has to go on, but we put her in because I was like, well, you never know,” Snyder explained.
Fans should keep an eye out for the character during the bar scene that takes place on Providence, but those hoping for more of a hint at a crossover will want to tune in to Snyder’s extended cut of the movie.
“In the longer version, in the director’s cut, she actually has some dialogue that is more related to it,” he said.
The cast of Rebel Moon were certainly keen to see a crossover between their director’s two movies.
“Can you imagine?” Ed Skrein, who plays the villainous Atticus Noble, told Gizmodo on the red carpet. “I want to see my character get bitten by a zombie and turned into a zombie. That is the most terrifying thought.”
Sofia Boutella, who leads the film as Kora, said she could envision a connection between Army of the Dead and another character the heroes meet on Providence.
“I go into a place called Providence with Gunnar… and there’s a character who I talk to, he’s basically a parasite who is hooked to a human being. I feel like maybe [that] character could be the crossover between the two films,” she said.
Bae Doona, who plays the swordswoman Nemesis, said she thinks she’d survive a Rebel Moon/Army of the Dead crossover film.
“[If you’ve] seen Kingdom, it’s one of my TV series and it’s a zombie drama. I survived in that, so probably, Nemesis can survive.”
With both films existing on Netflix, there’s a pretty good chance a crossover could be on the cards, but that will have to come after all of Snyder’s more immediate plans for his sci-fi franchise, which includes spin-off comics, novels, podcasts and video games, just to name a few.
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire releases on Netflix on December 22. Army of the Dead is streaming on Netflix now.
The author of this article travelled to Tokyo as a guest of Netflix.
Image: Netflix
Want more entertainment news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and DC releases, what’s coming to cinemas in Australia this year, and everything streaming this month across all platforms. Check out our dedicated Entertainment tab for more.