Zack Snyder Confirms His Cinematic 'Holy Grail' (It's Not A Superhero Movie)

After reaching the pinnacle of superhero moviemaking with "Zack Snyder's Justice League," the eponymous writer-director of the four-hour epic has his sights set on the holy grail of cinema — but it has nothing to do with DC or characters wearing capes.

In an interview with The Atlantic to discuss his new sci-fi feature "Rebel Moon: Part One –- A Child of Fire," Snyder made it clear that he is not looking to reconnect with James Gunn — who with Peter Safran are the new heads of DC's film and television division — to make another monolithic superhero movie. Instead, he wants to create a story crafted entirely from his thoughts.

"I'm not knocking on James Gunn's door, going, like, 'Bro, shoot me one of those sweet movies,'" Snyder told The Atlantic. "The holy grail is some original IP that you create, that has resonance and is cool."

So, conclusively, Snyder isn't looking forward to making a movie based on an existing intellectual property, but one that's based on his original idea. One could easily argue that "Rebel Moon" — which concludes in April 2024 with "Part Two — The Scargiver" — is the holy grail that Snyder is looking to grasp. But does it fit his qualification of being an original piece of intellectual property?

A few months before "Part One – A Child of Fire" in December 2023, Zack Snyder revealed his "Rebel Moon" inspiration, telling /Film that it's a space opera that was born of an idea he pitched to Lucasfilm more than a dozen years ago to fit within the framework of the "Star Wars" universe. When George Lucas' legendary production company rejected the idea, Snyder created his own space story. Snyder admitted in an exclusive interview with Looper, however, that he left a little "Star Wars" DNA in "Rebel Moon."

"What it allowed is that any of the 'Star Wars' iconology that you might see in the movie now that's left over is there by design," Snyder told Looper. "In the end, I can't help myself 100% from being a slight deconstructivist and taking a subversive look at the overall science fiction landscape or the sort of pantheon of mythology that we accept as our cinematic touchstones."

So, while Snyder might not see the project as entirely his own IP, cast member Ray Fisher told Looper in an exclusive interview that "Rebel Moon" has changed the game. "Even prior to getting to work with him, I've admired his work for years, and being able to jump into the saddle with him in this brand-new IP, this brand-new world, the brand-new universe — not even a world — a universe that he's bringing to life, it's amazing," said Fisher, who previously starred as Victor Stone-Cyborg in "Zack Snyder's Justice League."

"Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire" is streaming exclusively on Netflix.