Netflix’s Army of the Dead was the product of Zack Snyder’s vision down to a tee, delivering a high octane and action-packed undead flick that cribbed certain elements from classic films and refitted them to suit the director’s distinct sensibilities. The dwindling group of ragtag eccentrics was straight out of the playbook from James Cameron’s Aliens with zombies instead of Xenomorphs, while the ‘men on a mission’ narrative has been a staple of cinema dating back to Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and its American remake The Magnificent Seven.
However, the expanded franchise isn’t going to follow the same template, with star Matthias Schweighöfer reprising his role as Dieter and also directing prequel Army of Thieves, which has been described as a romantic comedy crime caper in the vein of The Italian Job, with the onset of the zombie uprising making it easier than ever to pull off a heist as sparks fly between Dieter and Nathalie Emmanuel’s Gwendoline.
Animated spinoff Lost Vegas, meanwhile, is set before the events of Army of the Dead as well, focusing on Dave Bautista’s Scott Ward during his military days when the city was in the midst of being overrun and evacuated, but a new character named Rose will be the protagonist. Joe Manganiello provides the voice for him, and insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that he’ll return to reprise the role in live-action in the inevitable sequel.
There are some stellar names signed on for Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas so far that weren’t in the movie including Christian Slater, Harry Lennix, The Witcher‘s Anya Chalotra, Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone, all of whom could hypothetically make the jump to live-action in the future should Manganiello set the precedent. Of course, that’s if they get out of the animated series alive.