A former dancer, Boutella channels fluid grace into balletic action sequences as Kora, a villager who leaves the peaceful Veldt to fight back against the Imperium she deserted. Soon, the young woman has taken it upon herself to gather warriors who’ll protect Veldt from their intergalactic tormentors. 

In Part Two, Kora must embrace her past rather than running from it. “In the first film, you meet Kora when she’s in a space of denial, shoving down everything she’s gone through and keeping her past a secret from everyone on Veldt,” Boutella told Netflix. “In Part Two, her secret is out, but she regains all the power she’s learned as a soldier.”

Boutella also found herself relating to Kora’s life as a galactic globe-trotter: “I was born in Algeria and I moved to France when I was 10, and then I moved again to LA when I was in my early 20s,” she said. “I don’t feel like I completely belong to any geographical space per se, but at the same time, it’s easy for me to adapt.”

“I pitched her from the beginning,” Snyder tells Tudum. “That happens to me with casting. I’ll see someone and be like, ‘I’m going to put them in a movie. I’m going to figure it out.’ She has this mysterious quality. She’s super physical. Her performance is amazing.”

Atomic Blonde, Climax, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Mummy, Star Trek Beyond, Hotel Artemis

Accompanying Kora on her globe-trotting quest is Gunnar, a Veldt farmer who knows little of the world outside of his small, quiet corner of the galaxy. As the Rebel Moon saga unfolds, he may just find his courage in the fight against the Imperium. 

“Gunnar is a humble farmer, a man who lives off the land. He leads a peaceful life, and he cares about his community,” Huisman told Netflix. “He makes a mistake at the beginning of the movie in believing that there’s a deal to be struck with this evil force, and it’s a mistake he tries to redeem himself for during the rest of the time.”

In Part Two, that mistake comes back to haunt Gunnar. “He’s someone who shies away from violence but finds himself with his back against the wall in Part Two,” Huisman said. “He not only wants to redeem himself for endangering his whole community — which is a lot of what drove him in Part One — but he also finds that he’s in love. And, as a result, he forces himself to come into his own strength, because when you’re in love, you don’t ever want to lose that.”

In an amusing twist, Huisman’s Gunnar tangles with Ed Skrein’s sinister Admiral Atticus Noble — both actors played Daenerys Targaryen’s squeeze Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones.

World War Z, Wild, The Invitation, The Age of Adaline, Game of Thrones

Skrein plays the main villain of Rebel Moon, a nefarious Imperium enforcer by the name of Admiral Atticus Noble. He lands on Veldt with a bang — and a burst of casual violence. It’s the hallmark of the Imperium, and if the Veldt villagers don’t turn over their harvest, they’ll be in for much more callous cruelty. 

“As soon as I read the script and came across Noble, I just thought, ‘What an opportunity. What a character, what an arc,’ ” Skrein told Netflix. “To play the antagonist is often to be underserved from a narrative point of view. The focus is usually on the protagonist. It’s why we see so many 2D villains and why they can be quite basic. This is not that. This is the character of the piece for me.”

In Part Two, Noble breaks bad even further. “What we see with Noble 2.0 is that he’s become almost corrupted in the process of being resurrected at the end of the first film,” Skrein said. “He becomes the worst parts of himself — a distilled, corroded version of his former self.”

“Ed is a nutcase in this movie,” Snyder tells Tudum. “I mean, as a person, he’s amazingly disciplined and dedicated and meticulous. But his character, Noble, is completely unhinged, and he really does a great job.”

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Hollywood veteran Hounsou brings his effortless gravitas to General Titus, a hardened gladiator who once served the Imperium. When Kora and company come across Titus fighting in a bloody colosseum, they encourage him to fight back against Motherworld, the empire that molded him into a warrior.

“Titus is somebody with an inherent obligation to give all of himself to what is just, what is right,” Hounsou told Netflix. “He’s a defender of the innocent and oppressed. He’s a man of the people, more so than the system… Personally, this film affected me in a way I’ve never experienced before, physically and emotionally.”

The Scargiver sees Titus once again become the warrior he trained to be. “In Part One, Titus was reluctant to join the fight, and in Part Two he becomes an instrumental part of the team as he steps into the shoes of a general again and helps to strategize the battle and lead,” Hounsou said. “For him, it was more of a dignified cause to fight for.”

Hounsou has honed his skills for more than two decades. He’s been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice: Once for In America and once for Blood Diamond.

Amistad, Furious 7, Shazam!, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Legend of Tarzan, Constantine, A Quiet Place Part II, In America, Blood Diamond

Relative newcomer Nair plays Tarak, a noble indentured servant who shares a bond with a flying creature called a bennu. It’s a connection with deep roots in the world Snyder is constructing. 
 
“[Bennu] comes from Tarak’s home planet, originally,” Snyder reveals. “They’re kind of like the horses of their world.” There’s more to the story, of course. “You’re going to find out about Tarak’s backstory in Part Two, and you’re going to learn a little bit about the bennu, what role they play, and that he’s familiar with them,” he adds.

Nair was also able to put his own personal stamp on the character. “The language I speak in the movie, Samandritan, is an amalgamation of two languages: Russian, which is one of my native tongues, and Portuguese, which is a language I’ve been learning,” Nair said. “I had this amazing opportunity to use my culture in something that began as completely fictitious.”

Like his friends, Tarak undergoes a curious evolution in The Scargiver. “Like many characters, I think Tarak is re-becoming the person he once was by choosing to fight for Veldt,” Nair said. “He’s subconsciously shedding his guilt of not being able to save his planet by saving this one, and there’s an openness that happens when he makes that decision. You see Tarak smile a lot more in Part Two.”

Game of Thrones, The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, Krypton, Humans

Bae’s Nemesis is a cyborg sword master whose mechanical hands allow her to wield molten-metal weapons. She’s a swordswoman extraordinaire, and she’s happy to join the merry troupe of rebels — right after she has a quick duel with a massive spider woman, of course.

“Nemesis is a quiet and severe warrior. She’s a woman of few words, and you can’t really read her mind from outside,” Bae told Netflix. “But she’s also a protector and a heartbroken mother with a really soft heart inside. I connected with this character because it’s the only way I can act. I don’t know how to act without connecting emotionally and being inspired by everything — from the set to my costume, my makeup, everything.”

Part Two begins to reveal the caring mother underneath Nemesis’ tough exterior. “In Part Two, the biggest driving factor for Nemesis is motherhood,” Bae said. “Her family had been her whole world, but Imperial soldiers laid waste to it. With the memories of her children she could not defend deeply buried in her heart, she made herself invincible. She’s a strong mother figure determined to protect children and the weak from harm, a fighter who vows never again to lose her people or her children.”

Bae started out her career as a model in South Korea before being cast in a lead role in director Bong Joon-ho’s debut film Barking Dogs Never Bite. She’s since become a fixture of both South Korean cinema and Hollywood, appearing in multiple projects from the Wachowski sisters, the masterminds behind The Matrix.

Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, The Host, Broker

Duffy plays Milius, a refugee fighting alongside the Bloodaxes. They’re seeking justice for their home — a colony that has already fallen to Motherworld.

This is Duffy’s first feature film, and it was a meaningful experience for her. “Milius is extremely courageous and brave. I think I’ve learned a lot about bravery from them,” Duffy told Netflix. “There’s an eternal sense of truth in Milius’ heart, that there’s a right and a wrong, and that you can find a purpose and a reason for living in the worst of circumstances.”

Part of Duffy’s journey in The Scargiver was building Milius’ motivations. “We see Milius do some pretty incredible things in Part Two. They show a lot of courage and bravery, and I had to think if I were in this situation, what would be driving me in all of this?” she said. “And what I discovered is that Milius isn’t fighting out of hatred for the Motherworld, but out of love for where they came from.”

The beloved thespian takes on the voice-over role of “Jimmy,” designation JC-1435 — an ancient robot knight that once defended a slain king, but has now faded into a more peaceful existence. It’s a crucial role that only two-time Academy Award winner Hopkins could have played. 

“Jimmy’s really in a lot of ways the heart of the movie,” Snyder says. “He’s sort of more human than the humans. We had to record [Anthony] before we shot the movie, so we recorded all his dialogue, almost like an animated film, like a scratch track. And then we went back after we did the movie, and he did it [again].”

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Darrian’s sister, Devra, is just as committed to the cause as he is — but perhaps a little less willing to be caught up in the provincial concerns of the Veldt villagers. 

“Devra co-leads this rebel army with her brother, Darrian, but I think she’s the real leader,” Coleman told Netflix. “She’s the brains and Darrian is the brawn. He’ll act on a whim, whereas Devra’s almost like a politician. She’s willing to put her emotions to the side while Darrian wears his feelings on his sleeve.”

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Irish actor Fee plays Noble’s boss, the grim and remorseless Regent Balisarius. He shares a history with Kora — and a future. 

The Scargiver reveals more of the psyche of the most menacing presence in Rebel Moon’s galaxy. “Balisarius is this looming figure that exists in the imaginations of all of the characters, but until now he’s been the elusive man behind the curtain,” Fee told Netflix. “We don’t really know who he is, yet to see Noble, who is the most brutal and chaotic villain, be intimidated by Balisarius, it’s almost inconceivable. I wanted to paint a vivid picture of who this person is and why he might be so ambitious and vindictive — and how he got to that point.”

Fee was pleased to be able to use his native Irish accent for the role. “Zack encouraged me and gave me license to use my own accent in this piece, which is really cool because I don’t get to use it on-screen all that much,” Fee said. “It hints at the fact that Balisarius is an outsider, he has infiltrated this world. It works very well.”

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Hunnam takes on the role of Kai, a mercenary pilot whose Tawau-class freighter will prove invaluable to Kora’s quest. He’s a down-and-dirty hustler who’s handy in a fight — and all other forms of hostile negotiation.

Hunnam has carved out a place for himself in Hollywood as just this sort of scrappy outlaw, starting with his long tenure on FX’s Hamlet-on-Harleys melodrama Sons of Anarchy. He was initially eyed for a different role in the film, but soon won Snyder over as Kai. “Zack had sent me the script to read for one character, but I fell in love with Kai, and so I pitched myself for this role instead,” Hunnam told Netflix. “He loved my take on it, and within 10 minutes, he said, ‘All right. Done. The character is yours.’ So I sort of claimed him.”

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Fisher, who previously starred as Cyborg in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, returns to the filmmaker’s fold as Darrian Bloodaxe, an insurgent warrior who, alongside his sister, Devra, has been harrying the Imperium with constant guerrilla assaults.

Of course, Bloodaxe soon joins Kora’s legion. “I think he recognizes the purity of where he and his sister first started when the Bloodaxes began their rebellion,” Fisher said. “Darrian leads with his heart and understands that joining the fight will inspire countless others to the cause.”

“Always a joy to work with Ray,” Snyder says. “He really created the character just in his physicality and in his embodiment. He’s always just strong and lovely.” 

True Detective, Women of the Movement, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the upcoming The Piano Lesson

Harmada is a massive spider-like creature who lives in the depths of the mining world Daggus. Played by previous Snyder collaborator Malone, she’s a mysterious presence who clashes with Nemesis.

Malone’s commitment extended to the lengthy makeup process it took to play the character. “I told her about the character, and she was like, ‘Yeah, that sounds cool. That sounds fun. It’s weird,’ ” Snyder tells us. “She’s just an incredible actress and really dug into the whole ‘why’ of it.” 

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Sindri is the Veldt patriarch, a gruff but kindly presence who squares off with Noble when the admiral demands tribute from the villagers. He’s played by a bearded Stoll of House of Cards fame. 

In one scene early in the film, Noble menaces Sindri as villagers look on. Skrein was cloaked in a massive overcoat with a fur collar on a hot summer day, but his scene partner made things easy for him. “There’s the magic of Corey Stoll, who is an incredible, generous actor who brought out the best in me,” Skrein told Netflix. “We spent five days in the heat shooting those scenes, but it was one of the most profound experiences I’ve ever had.”

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