Zack Snyder is a director who''s been on a lot of people's minds lately. Ever since he stepped down from Justice League a few years ago due to his daughter's tragic death, fans have been demanding his definitive version of the movie as opposed to the tonally uncertain mess Joss Whedon put out. After what was probably the biggest example of collective fan outrage since the Sonic movie redesign saga, Warner Brothers caved in to their demands and let Snyder release the gloomiest, longest, slow motion-est DC film to date.
Netflix must've taken note of the demand for more Snyder content and offered him the opportunity to write, produce and direct his most self-indulgent project yet, free of studio interference and with plenty of space for more. Army of the Dead was released on the platform earlier this week; an action heist thriller set in a zombie-filled Las Vegas that intends to kickstart an entire cinematic universe.
The movie itself works as a heist movie with zombies, and even the zombie element has a nice twist differentiates it from most other zombie media out there. But for everything cool or interesting, there seems to be one or two awkward decisions shortly after - something I've felt with a lot of Snyder's work in the past. Like a nicely shot fight scene followed by cringey dialogue and stupid stock sound effects, or the introduction of a pretty cool monster that doesn't really pose a threat or do anything until right at the end of the movie. Imagine Sucker Punch and 300 mixed with Dead Rising, or From Dusk til Dawn without the clever twist and that's pretty much it.
Much like his cut of Justice League, Army of the Dead goes out of its way to set up a sequel. But that's not all; Netflix have already greenlit Army of Thieves, a prequel movie featuring the past escapades of the wacky safecracker character Dieter, as well as an "anime-style" series titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.
Lost Vegas follows the early stages of the Vegas outbreak and the backstories of some of the movie's main cast, including Dave Bautista's, Omari Hardwick's and Ana de la Reguera's characters. The film's returning cast members will reprise their roles along with a few alumni from Snyder's other movies. From Sucker Punch we have Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone, while Joe Manganiello, Harry Lennix and Ray Porter work with Snyder once again after Justice League.
The series will be produced by Meduzarts Animation Studio, who usually work on 3D animations for video games. 3D and anime don't always mix, no matter how much Netflix has tried with their other original content, so we'll have to wait to see how Lost Vegas compares to other Netflix anime such as Kengan Ashura, Altered Carbon: Resleeved and Ultraman.
So, have you guys seen Army of the Dead yet? Is it worthy of an entire expanded universe, including an anime series? Let us know below!
