Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, which made its Netflix debut in May, quickly became one of the streamer’s most viewed original films. The genre-mashing movie stars Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, a former military specialist who leads a crack team of mercenaries into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to recover $200 million from a casino safe before the whole city is nuked.
Looking At Plot Details And Returning Cast For Netflix’s Newly Announced Sequel To The Action-Packed Zombie Heist Film
The film’s first spinoff Army of Thieves just dropped on Netflix. Here we’ll watch the scene-stealing bank safecracker Ludwig Dieter (played by Matthias Schweigh&öfer, who also directs the film) in action before he ever came face-to-face with the flesh-eating undead. Meanwhile, Snyder has just confirmed a sequel to the original film, aptly titled Planet of the Dead. Here’s a look at everything we know so far.
Planet of the Dead Plot Details
Snyder’s first big screen credit as director was an impressive 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. And after the success of Army of the Dead, it’s no surprise he wants to pursue another zombie entry in the near future.
Now, let’s look at where the plot left off as the movie concluded. As for the zombie infection, it was not fully destroyed in the nuking of Sin City, since he chainsaw-weilding Vanderhoe (played by Omari Hardwick) unknowingly carried the infection all the way to Mexico City after sustaining a bite from the lead ghoul, Zeus.
“Obviously, you know Zeus is now dead, but I think because I knew that Zeus had a certain amount of respect for Vanderhoe, which was reciprocated,” said Hardwick to SYFY. “I feel like becauseour characters respected each other so much, who knows? There might have been a secret bite that Zeus knew to give Vanderhoe and it’s not the same lethal bite that leaves everybody else zombified.”
Plus, Vanderhoe’s bringing the pathogen outside of Vegas takes matters global (hence the sequel’s title), which will obviously open a legitimate world of narrative possibilities for Snyder.
Confirmed Cast Members
Given that things don’t according to plan in Army of the Dead, most of the original cast won’t be around for the follow-up. As for the likely returns, Scott’s estranged daughter Kate (played Ella Purnell) made it out of Vegas alive. Though there’s no telling where she headed or what her plans are once those rescue choppers pick her up, it’s a safe bet she’ll play some part in the coming sequel. And besides the pathogen-carrying Vanderohe, who we discussed above, that leaves just Dieter, who found himself ironically trapped inside of a safe at film’s end.
“The real adventure would be to see what happened to [Dieter] when that safe door closed,” Snyder told Inverse. “Did he get killed by Zeus or not? What happened? We don’t see him die on camera, and there’s still some time left. I won’t tell you what happens in Army of the Dead 2 – aka Planet of the Dead – but let’s just say that there’s a chance Dieter survives.”
Release Date
Snyder has been busy booking new projects since the original film’s release, having already lined up the sci-fi epic “Rebel Moon” with Netflix. That film hasn’t even started shooting yet, which means we’re likely at least a couple of years away from seeing a finished “Planet of the Dead” flick. Plus, neither Snyder nor Netflix have announced an official release date for Planet of the Dead.
Inspirations Behind Army of the Dead Universe
Snyder said that during production of Dawn of the Dead, he got the idea for Army of the Dead and realized that he needed a new origin story to develop the plot and a new incarnation of the living dead. He titled the project Army of the Dead as a tribute to the Night of the Living Dead series from Romero. And similar to Romero’s work, Snyder’s 2021 zombie film makes plenty of allusions to real-life America. “The best zombie movies have a lot of social commentary,” said Snyder to Men’s Health. “You see Sean Spicer and Donna Brazile arguing about the politics of the wall. And when you hear the president saying that nuking Vegas will be, like, the ultimate fireworks show, I don’t think you have to work too hard to figure out who might say something like that.”
Other Army of the Dead Projects
In addition to Army of Thieves dropping on Netflix, the animated prequel series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is in the works. Its ensemble voice cast includes Christian Slater, Joe Manganiello, Harry Lennix, Anya Chalotra, Ross Butler, Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone. Deborah Snyder confirmed with the IndieWire that the six-episode anime series provides the backstory. “You could come to it as an anime fan and not having seen ‘Army of the Dead,’ and then you want more,” she said.
“We possibly go to Area 51…maybe not,” Zack Snyder told SYFY. “But possibly. And then when we’re there, we learn stuff about what the government’s up to…or we don’t. But there’s a chance we do. And it’s all very secretive and there’s like…inter-dimensional travel. I don’t know. Is that a thing? Who knows?”
Source: movieweb.com