New reports suggest that Ray Fisher’s character will have quite an unusual name in Zack Snyder’s upcoming sci-fi fantasy film, Rebel Moon. Developed from a concept that Snyder had originally pitched to Lucasfilm as a potential Star Wars project, the director later decided to develop the idea within its own fictional universe as part of his first-look deal with Netflix. Citing the works of Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, as a major source of inspiration, the film will follow the story of a young woman (played by Sofia Boutella) who is dispatched to seek out warriors from neighboring planets when her own colony is threatened by a tyrant known as Belisarius.
Continuing to work with many of his former collaborators, Snyder has penned the script for this latest outing with his Army of the Dead co-writer, Shay Hattan, and Kurt Johnstad, who helped him adapt Frank Miller’s 300 onto the screen. In a series of recent casting announcements, it was also revealed that Snyder will once again be working alongside Ray Fisher, who first appeared in a cameo role as Cyborg (a.k.a. Victor Stone) in 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice before making his full debut in 2017’s Justice League. When Snyder departed production on the DC team-up due to a family tragedy, Avengers director Joss Whedon was tapped to assume directorial duties and made several alterations to Snyder’s original plan for the film, including significantly reducing Fisher’s role.
Off the back of Snyder’s recent casting announcements, which also included Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, and Doona Bae, THR is reporting that while character details are scarce, they have received some information about who the actors will be playing. According to this report, Hounsou will be playing a character named General Titus, and Bae will serve as an antagonist who is proficient with a sword. Most interesting, however, is the name of Fisher’s resistance fighter, who goes by the less than subtle moniker of Blood Axe.
While Fisher’s new character name certainly evokes images of a vicious warrior, it is still not clear exactly what significance his role will play in the film’s narrative. Perhaps what is most interesting about the name, however, is its departure from the sorts of names that would ordinarily appear in the film’s earliest origins as a Star Wars concept. While the Star Wars universe is well known for hinting at certain characters’ traits via their names (Vader is literally translated as “father” in Dutch after all), Blood Axe probably would have been a little too literal to form part of the Star Wars universe had Lucasfilm greenlit Snyder’s original pitch.
Of course, since transforming the project into something entirely different, Snyder seems intent on crafting his own intricately detailed sci-fi universe, and his choice of character names will probably make a lot more sense in that particular context. With all the issues surrounding Fisher’s previous work on Justice League, which have recently been thrust back into the spotlight off the back of Whedon’s controversial interview, there’s no doubt the actor will just be keen to get back to work alongside Snyder on a fresh new project regardless of whatever his character’s name is. Sci-fi fans will certainly be excited to learn more about Fisher’s Blood Axe and Rebel Moon as the film commences filming in April.
Source: THR
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