The Rebel Moon saga continues with the second instalment, The Scargiver

The war against the Motherworld rages on in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver, with Sofia Boutella returning as the rebel warrior known as Kora to some, and Arthelais to others.

In the first film, Kora’s simple life as a farmer on the planet Veldt is upended when her community welcomes Imperium admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein) and a group of soldiers following their harvest celebrations. Relatively naive to the cruelty of the Motherworld, the kindness and honesty of the residents of Veldt are used against them. Noble violently takes control of the community, killing its members indiscriminately and leaving the farmers no other option but to band together and fight.

In the four years that Kora had spent there since crash-landing on Veldt, she had been keeping her past to herself. Orphaned by the Imperium and raised to defend it before fleeing after a hostile takeover, Kora used her past life as a skilled fighter to rebel against the militarized powers that took her from her family. After she reluctantly takes on the role as the leader of the rebellion, Kora and Gunnar (Michiel Huisman) travel the galaxy, finding others who oppose the Motherworld.

Reprising their roles in the sequel are Djimon Hounsou as Titus, Doona Bae as Nemesis, Ray Fisher as Darrian Bloodaxe, Staz Nair as Tarak; Fra Free as Regent Balisarius, E. Duffy as Millius, Stuart Martin as Den, Cary Elwes as the King, Rhian Rees as the Queen, Charlotte Maggi as Sam, and Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as the voice of Jimmy, a robot worker for the Imperium who gains consciousness and turns against them for their cruelty.

This time, Kora and the rest of the rebels must fight to keep the peace they just recently forged on Veldt when an unexpected villain returns. In the first Rebel Moon movie, Admiral Noble was defeated — or so they all thought. In an explosive final battle, Noble seemed to have perished. However, his body was found by Motherworld loyalists and he was brought back to life. Noble awoke with a need for revenge, demanding to have Kora brought to him so he can kill her and the spirit of rebellion she sparked. It is only a matter of time before Noble’s henchmen reach Kora, meaning it is up to her and the rest of the rebels to put up a fight.

All the while, Kora continues to relive a version of her past that now places her on the other side, fighting against the Motherworld. When she was taken from her home planet by Balisarius, he raised her as his daughter and named her Arthelais. Under his influence, she became a prodigal warrior and was responsible for the protection of the princess of the Imperium. The royal family that ruled the Motherland was assassinated and Balisarius named himself Regent, the first leader of the Imperium not from the royal line. Ruthless and mysterious, Balisarius has much more to reveal in this sequel.

But Kora is not the only former Imperium fighter among the rebels. Choosing exile over being forced to do Balisarius’ violent bidding, Titus became a gladiator on Veldt, where Kora and Gunnar find him before recruiting Tarak. A beast tamer being held for crimes against the Motherworld, Tarak joins the rebels after winning his freedom in a bet. Then there’s Nemesis, a cybernetic swordswoman who wields incredible, searing neon swords like lethal extensions of her body.

For those who are already absorbed into this exciting universe, good news: the Rebel Moon series of films are a part of a planned franchise that may include more sequels, spinoffs and other forms of storytelling; a novelization of the first film and a prequel comic have already been published, and Snyder has announced plans for a video game, podcast and TV series.

While the films could have kicked off a new theatrical franchise, Snyder felt that Netflix was a far better place to tell the ongoing story he envisioned.

As he explained in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum, “the structure of what I wanted to do with two movies, with [the releases] being kind of close together, only a streamer could do it.”

Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver, streaming Friday, April 19 on Netflix