Today brings the release of Netflix’s Army of Thieves, the second installment in the Army of the Dead universe, and it couldn’t be more different from Zack Snyder’s apocalyptic blockbuster.
Matthias Schweighöfer directs and stars in a European heist caper that sees an out of his depth Dieter recruited by Nathalie Emmanuel’s Gwendoline to crack a series of impenetrable safes using his unique set of skills and expertise. There’s barely a zombie in sight, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t all connected.
There are overt nods to Army of the Dead, and it fleshes out Dieter’s backstory to such an extent that you’ll no doubt feel much more emotionally fulfilled watching Snyder’s epic second time out, but worlds could be set to collide in Planet of the Dead whenever it comes together.
In an interview with ScreenRant, the filmmaker teased that we could be seeing Army of Thieves alumni show up, which would make sense given that the sequel’s title hints that things are about to go global.
“You know what, you never know. I mean, we have a plan right now for a sequel to Army of the Dead. And as you know, none of these guys… Really, they’re all, I guess, in some prison somewhere. It would be very… It would not be a big… It wouldn’t be a stretch, maybe, to see them again at some point.”
It all depends on how far ahead Snyder has planned, which is a question we don’t know the answer to when he’s busy prepping sci-fi Rebel Moon, which he’ll shoot before Planet of the Dead. The man loves giving his fans what they want, though, so don’t be surprised if familiar faces from Army of Thieves make an appearance.