Rebel Moon: Nemesis' 'Lightsabers' & Zack Snyder's Other Weapons Explained

Though "Rebel Moon" is meant to be the first step in a new shared universe of science-fiction adventures, many will continue to note that the Netflix franchise originally began as a "Star Wars" pitch. This is likely why some elements of the film, like its battle droid, fascist empire, and laser swords, continue to draw a certain kind of focus from fans.

Yes, the swords that the cyborg Nemesis (Bae Doona) uses look like lightsabers despite "Rebel Moon" not being a "Star Wars" film, but they're not powered by a kyber crystal. "Her swords charge up with her hands and they become this heated element," producer Deborah Snyder told Tudum. "They're really something else."

Though this explanation will likely do little to quell the comparison to the most iconic "Star Wars" weapon, it does at least sound like this character will be the only one with this kind of power. Plus, as shown in the trailer, Nemesis' blades can also seemingly be used as is, without being heated, helping further differentiate them from their "Star Wars" counterpart.

Other crew members of "Rebel Moon" explained how weapons design was pivotal to the development of the franchise's world, including production designer Stefan Dechant. "It's not the most comfortable thing... This is made for one purpose: destroying things," he said of the battleship Dreadnought.

"There are lots of guns, lots of weapons. It's an action movie," said property master Brad Elliot. "We really aimed at getting our weapons to look different. We came up with brand[-]new shape language and brand[-]new ideas."

The prop department also referred to something called "lava corks," suggesting that there will be a whole range of different kinds of weapons technology in this universe. Either way, with two movies and a video game tie-in already announced, it sounds like Zack Snyder and co. have plenty to work with as they build out their fictional reality.