Netflix has dropped the first images from Army of Thieves, a prequel to Zack Snyder's hit movie Army of the Dead. The prequel film will dive further into the backstory of the ultimate safecracker himself, Ludwig Dieter. One of the first images that were released features the German cracksman, which gives fans the confirmation of his return for the prequel.
Snyder's Army of the Dead focused on a group of mercenaries and safecrackers who have been hired to retrieve $200 million from a locked vault. The vault just happens to be at the center of a zombie invasion in Las Vegas. Although the first film was heavily influenced by zombie apocalypse films, the prequel seems to be completely devoid of the walking dead. Zombies added an extra layer of suspense and, of course, made the team’s mission all the more challenging.
However, the first look at the images for Army of Thieves features Dieter standing alongside a much more complex lock than the one in Army of the Dead. It seems the film is implying that Dieter being able to conquer these insanely intricate vaults was just training for the zombie infused mission in the first film. Army of Thieves' official synopsis reads, “In this prequel to Zack Snyder’s Army Of The Dead, small-town bank teller Dieter gets drawn into the adventure of a lifetime when a mysterious woman recruits him to join a crew of Interpol’s most wanted criminals, attempting to heist a sequence of legendary, impossible-to-crack safes across Europe." Fans will have a familiar face in Army of Thieves through the character of Dieter.
However, the Snyder universe is also greatly expanding and branching out. The images provide a first look and introduction to a crew of all new criminals. Some of the stars who have been cast as members of the thief squad include Fast and Furious 9 star Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, and Jonathan Cohen. Of course, fans might be a bit disappointed at the lack of zombies roaming around on the screen. Yet, this all-new ensemble of characters should make up for it. With Netflix releasing these first images, an official trailer for Army of Thieves should be around the corner.
Snyder's Army of the Dead is currently available for streaming on Netflix, but the franchise is going to involve more than just these two live-actions films. An Army of the Dead anime series is currently in development, which will follow several characters from the first film during the beginning of the zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, including Dave Bautista's Scott Ward and Ana de la Reguera's Maria Cruz.
Of course, there are also some who want a direct sequel to Army of the Dead. While Netflix has not announced any such project, Snyder himself has already stated that he has ideas for a second film.
Army of Thieves is set to premiere in late 2021 on Netflix.
Source: Netflix