With the first Army of the Dead film being released in May and the prequel, Army of Thieves, having just released, many fans are asking what the future of the storyline looks like. With now two films released and a television series and sequel in the plans, will there be enough left to explore in this universe to satisfy audiences?
Fans of the original movie know that the best part of the film was not its storyline, but rather the special effects, cinematography, makeup, and costumes-- in other words, the visuals. Reliance on what the viewers see to stimulate a reaction is a common quality in action and thriller films, however that single storyline is not usually expanded on across several different film mediums.
Again, the Army of the Dead makes it clear that visuals are what the movie is all about which is made obvious by the incessant theatrical gore and early nudity that contributes little to the story. This is first made obvious in the beginning, with the classic zombie movie montage that gives a glimpse of the world and what the characters endured up to this point. While this is an effective way to pack in a lot of information at once, it may have been more emotionally impactful to explore some of these situations in-depth and with dialogue.
Revealing only some of this situation may have allowed Snyder the opportunity to explore it in the upcoming television series, but it also created a bit of an emotional disconnect in Scott’s adjustment to this Zombie apocalypse. Viewers don’t get to see his mental or emotional coping with living in this world and with what it’s done to his family. As a result, the few moments that the audience does see Scott express his feelings with Kate, it almost comes off as soapy and disrupts the rhythm of action in the film.
The personal responses of the characters are better when woven in throughout the film instead of grouped in where there is a break in the action. There are several other points that the sequel could have focused on, rather than filling in the gaps left by the first movie-- like exploring the effect that using nuclear weapons had on the situation.
Beyond being centered around the story gaps left in the first film, the lack of one set genre is also a concern moving forward with the sequel. The first film seemed to be a mixture of a war film, a heist film, and a zombie film. With this many elements of movie magic, it’s hard not to view it as Snyder trying to overcompensate for something. Even with this many genres applied, it doesn’t seem like this method creates enough story to stretch over three films and a TV series.
The prequel to Army of the Dead, Army of Thieves, had only slightly better ratings since its release a few days ago. It still leaves several questions unanswered but it does have fans eager to see what direction the future of this world holds. Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is one release that will hopefully offer more answers. It is the anime television series set to be released in 2022 that expands on Scott’s attempt to fight back during the early part of the zombie outbreak in Vegas. Several new big cast members will be on board for the show, like Vanessa Hudgens, Anya Chalotra, Joe Manganiello, and more.
Assuming that the remaining questions about the past are answered in the anime series, the Planet of the Dead sequel should then have the floor to fill the leftover holes. That being said, whether or not the film will actually do that or not is yet to be determined. The sequel was confirmed by Netflix in July and is already getting attention, though little is known about it.
Even in the handful of interviews that Snyder has done where he revealed hints about Planet of the Dead, few questions were answered, and even more were raised. There are some conclusions that can be drawn from what’s already known, though. As the name suggests, it will probably explore the part of the storyline where it left off in the first movie.
At the conclusion of the original Army of the Dead, it's revealed, as he’s on his way to Mexico City, that Vanderhoe has been bitten by a zombie. Considering who he fought with in that film, it was likely the bite of an Alpha. However, because he clearly didn’t have any immediate reactions to being bitten, a lot of questions surrounding what his future will look like in the sequel. Regardless, fans can be sure that he will play a role in it.
Vanderhoe isn’t the only character that has audiences wondering, as the attention on the Army of Thieves film has fans asking whether or not Dieter will make an appearance. It's not known for certain that Zeus killed him so he could show up in the sequel, alive, or perhaps Zeus did get him and he will turn out to be some hyper-intelligent alpha. Only time will tell.
Some characters’ involvement in the sequel may be uncertain until viewers know if they’re dead or not, but fans can count on seeing a few familiar faces from the first film. Mainly, they are the characters that definitely made it out safely. For example, Kate, who will surely be a much different character in the sequel, after ending her role in the first film by being forced to shoot her infected father.
Like the mystery surrounding the characters involved, the mystery of which film genres it will play to are also unclear at this point. One example of this is how Zack Snyder has continually teased that the sequel may contain aliens, UFOs, or dimension-hopping. These additional world-building elements have some fans concerned that this could be a technique to attempt to stretch a shallow storyline too far.
This other-worldly approach was already hinted at as a possibility at the beginning of the first film where the soldiers driving the truck hauling Zeus joke about all of the top-secret things they could be transporting. This reveals to the audience that this is a world where anything could happen, but was this a wise decision? Snyder is already asking viewers to suspend their belief enough to examine a world where zombies run things. It seems like stacking on the inhuman characters could be asking fans to stretch their imagination too far without knowing how those creatures have always been connected.
None of these ideas have been finalized at this time and the story could really go in any direction from here. Those who keep up with the world can take some comfort in knowing that they can surely count on the messages from the first film to be carried over. In many ways, the original film reflected the state of our current society by mentioning political issues in this country and examining a concept that involves infection-- an idea not far from the reality of COVID that we’re still dealing with. This probably means that we can expect to see more of this kind of societal examination in the sequel.
Regardless of what Planet of the Dead will unveil about the Army of the Dead universe, viewers can bet that it will be impressively captured by the visuals of the movie. No matter how well the future film weaves together the story, audiences will return to see the observable art that is created as a result.
Though the sequel has definitely been confirmed by Netflix, no date has been given at this time for when the sequel will hit streaming. Zack Snyder has been signed on to several projects for the next year so fans must remain in waiting for a release date.