Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire star Djimon Hounsou revealed his surprise when director Zack Snyder reminded him how they first met decades before their collaboration in the upcoming Netflix movie.
“It would seem like I’ve known this story for 30 years, right? Here’s my little story with Zack. I get a call to talk about Rebel Moon, and in the midst of it, he announced that ‘Well, it would be great to see you again,'” Hounsou said in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com while promoting his role as General Titus.
He continued, “I was like, ‘Hey, wait a second.’ I mean, honestly, on the phone, I just said, ‘Wait a second, have we? I mean, it could be my apology, but we met before?’ And that’s when he began to describe, letting me know how I used to go to the film school as a model and pose for those young creative artists, students like himself. He took pictures of me back then, when I was freshly in California, with the dream of being an actor.”
In Snyder’s Rebel Moon, Hounsou is part of a large international cast led by Sofia Boutella. To prepare for General Titus, Hounsou explained to Screen Rant how he tapped into African heritage for inspiration.
“The whole cast comes from different parts of our world,” Hounsou said. “And that said, I also was asked, one of the requirements on coming on board was to be able to have this war chant, but it had to come from my tribe, from Africa. So we, of course, created something. I mean, Part Two would say so much more.”
What is the story of Rebel Moon?
“After crash landing on a moon in the furthest reaches of the universe, Kora (Sofia Boutella), a stranger with a mysterious past, begins a new life among a peaceful settlement of farmers,” the official synopsis reads. “But she soon becomes their only hope for survival when the tyrannical Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee) and his cruel emissary, Admiral Noble (Ed Skrein), discover the farmers have unwittingly sold their crops to the Bloodaxes (Cleopatra Coleman and Ray Fisher) — leaders of a fierce group of insurgents hunted by the Motherworld.”
“Tasked with finding fighters who would risk their lives to defend the people of Veldt, Kora, and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a tenderhearted farmer naive in the realities of war, journey to different worlds in search of the Bloodaxes, and assemble a small band of warriors who share a common need for redemption along the way: Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a pilot and gun for hire; General Titus (Djimon Hounsou), a legendary commander; Nemesis (Doona Bae), a master swordswoman; Tarak (Staz Nair), a captive with a regal past; and Milius (E. Duffy), a resistance fighter. Back on Veldt, Jimmy (voiced by Anthony Hopkins), an ancient mechanized protector hiding in the wings, awakens with a new purpose. But the newly formed revolutionaries must learn to trust each other and fight as one before the armies of the Motherworld come to destroy them all.”
Rebel Moon hits Netflix on December 21, 2023. A sequel, Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver, is scheduled to release on April 19, 2024.
