Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon is a much more exciting prospect now that it’s not a Star Wars movie. Once pitched to Lucasfilm as a Kurosawa-inspired Star Wars story, Rebel Moon has since taken on a life of its own and instead will debut on Netflix sometime in 2024. Recent Rebel Moon casting updates have made quite the splash, with Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, and Sofia Boutella all confirmed, despite more casting news inevitably still to come. As a result, Rebel Moon is shaping up to be a big release and is all the more intriguing now it’s not linked to an existing franchise.

Concept art revealed by Zack Snyder for Rebel Moon shows a Star Wars-meets-Dune-Esque world, and the film's short synopsis reveals a compelling if familiar tale. The plot appears a perfect match for Star Wars' expansive world, with Snyder revealing (via The Hollywood Reporter) that "The story is set in motion when a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy is threatened by the armies of a tyrannical regent named Balisarius. Desperate, the colonists dispatch a young woman with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand." The fact that Rebel Moon will explore this type of narrative within a newly conceived universe, however, means that there is more room for original worldbuilding and trope reinventions than in the usual canon Star Wars movies.

Related: Snyder’s Star Wars Clone Can Avoid What Killed The Sequel Trilogy

Zack Snyder directing a Star Wars movie would have been incredibly divisive at best. Given his history with the DCEU and the split between high praise and harsh backlash that followed, Snyder taking on another big franchise would arguably mar the film’s release with controversy. Star Wars is one of the biggest IPs in the world, and while it is understandable that Snyder wanted to be a part of it, Rebel Moon being the start of a new science-fiction franchise of his own creation makes it all the more exciting.

Zack Snyder Shares New Images As Rebel Moon Begins Production

Other than Zack Snyder’s contentious franchise-related past, another reason that Rebel Moon is much more interesting now that it is its own thing is Snyder’s unique style of film-making. While this wasn’t an issue in the DCEU as he was setting up the tone for the franchise and his vision of the Justice League’s story, being restrained by Star Wars’ particular aesthetic would likely be a hindrance for the film, not a benefit. Snyder’s movies are grand and operatic, with inventive visuals and hyper-stylized action sequences. It may be hard to picture that style used for a Star Wars project, but Rebel Moon could be defined by it and help it prove exactly why it deserves to be the start of a new epic sci-fi franchise.

While Rebel Moon will surely be the subject of continued debate, this movie will undeniably be Snyder’s vision through and through. In creating his fictional galaxy, Zack Snyder has circumvented the uproar that was certain to follow if he had taken on the task of making a canon Star Wars movie. In this way, Rebel Moon gives Snyder room to play with all the concepts that make the science-fiction genre so widely beloved without stepping on any toes and will provide him with the free reign needed to bring his creative vision to life.

Next: Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon News & Updates: Everything We Know