Army of the Dead director, Zack Snyder, has teased the existence of time loops in his upcoming zombie heist sequel, Army of the Dead 2. Having made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, Snyder knows a thing or two about what it takes to make zombies work on the big screen. It may seem like a simple task to make the undead interesting, but as the multitude of zombie related films, TV programs, and video games have made clear over the years, the task is anything but simple.
With the release of Army of the Dead, Snyder took the decades old zombie concept and wove it into a fun and action-packed tale of a bank heist. Though neither the film’s zombie or heist angles are quite the same as previous additions to either genre, the slight tweaking of mythologies seen in Army of the Dead give the entire film new possibilities that feel both familiar and new. And as if these things weren’t enough to keep the film engaging, Snyder hinted that its ragtag group of mercenaries tasked with retrieving $200 million from a vault within zombie-besieged Las Vegas were enmeshed in a time loop of sorts. The film ended without resolving this possibility, but ever since it was brought up, fans have hoped that the sequel would explore time travel in a more in-depth way.
In a recent interview with Snyder, GamesRadar+ gained a little bit of insight into Army of the Dead’s time loop concept that seems to be providing the 55-year-old filmmaker with a lot of joy. Though there’s still no direct understanding of exactly how the time loop aspect of the sequel will work, Snyder’s recent comments have all but confirmed that time travel will play a role in the new film. Adding that he “can’t wait” to make Army of the Dead 2, Snyder said:
"I'm a huge fan of this mythological understory. All your time loop fun that you can have, there's a lot of cool enhancements that are baked in now. I can't wait to make the sequel to Army of the Dead, so that we can see how then all of those things manifest."
Snyder’s newest entry in the Army of the Dead franchise will arrive on October 29 with prequel Army of Thieves giving fans insight into the life of safe-breaker, Dieter. Though the film is directed by Matthias Schweighöfer who also plays Dieter, it’s another building block in a franchise that seems to have some very substantial ambitions. Time travel is never an easy concept to wrangle into a film (even less so as a subplot), so Snyder’s efforts to bring loops into the sequel will likely involve some challenging work. Should he pull it off, however, it sounds as though Army of the Dead 2 will offer much in terms of intrigue.
If there is a potential downside to the franchise that Snyder’s building, it’s that it does at times feel as though none of it is happening organically. Rather than a gradual build up from film to film, Snyder’s Army of the Dead feels as though it has intentionally omitted or held back basic aspects in order to justify more sequels. This likely won’t bother most fans, but for those who would prefer a smooth transition into sequels, the franchise might feel a bit like Snyder is throwing everything he can at his audiences in hopes of seeing what sticks.
Source: GamesRadar+
