Bly Tanaka, the casino owner in Army of the Dead, is Dieter's target in Army of Thieves - what could this mean? Released in May 2021, Netflix's Army of the Dead saw Dave Bautista lead a ragtag group of mercenaries, military personnel, and... er, YouTubers on a perilous trek through zombie-infested Las Vegas to claim a share of cash locked in a vault beneath Bly Tanaka's Olympus Casino. Netflix's upcoming Army of Thieves is a prequel/spinoff focusing on a specific member of that group - Matthias Schweighöfer's safe-cracker extraordinaire, Ludwig Dieter.
Set during the early days of the Vegas outbreak, Army of Thieves sees Nathalie Emmanuel lead a ragtag group of hackers, drivers, and bank tellers on a perilous series of heists through zombie-free Europe. Until now, Army of Thieves' biggest connection to Army of the Dead was how Dieter's group exploited the zombie emergency as a distraction for their crimes. A new Army of Thieves trailer released during Netflix's TUDUM event, however, reveals a major new link between movies - all of the vaults Dieter's crew are targeting are also owned by Bly Tanaka.
This huge detail could help explain Tanaka's true plan in Army of the Dead. Though Hiroyuki Sanada's character quests Scott Ward to reclaim his casino loot, Bly Tanaka secretly plots to collect the head of an alpha zombie, which is apparently worth much more than the contents of his vault. Army of the Dead suggests Tanaka was in cahoots with shady government agent types in the market for prime severed zombie parts, but this hidden purpose seemed strange for a casino owner. As rich as Tanaka may be, why would a Vegas big-shot be involved in Area 51 zombie dealings? Army of Thieves confirms that Bly Tanaka is far more influential that previously believed. With secure vaults housed across the entire world, it's obvious that Tanaka is no mere casino billionaire. His fingers are in pies far beyond the Vegas strip, and this might explain how he's involved with darker forces in Army of the Dead.
Army of Thieves could potentially reveal vital clues about Bly Tanaka that weren't given in Army of the Dead. Why are Gwendoline's group targeting this rich guy specifically, out of all possible rich guys? Why does Tanaka use different vaults each time? Why hasn't a billionaire heard of online banking? The biggest twist would be if one of Bly's three Army of Thieves vaults doesn't contain money at all, but some kind of secret cargo or file that explains more about the zombies' extra-terrestrial origins.
Bly Tanaka's Army of Thieves role also raises questions over Dieter's reaction to seeing him in Army of the Dead. When Scott Ward and Maria Cruz first approach Dieter with an offer to join their crew, the German makes no reference whatsoever to cracking Bly Tanaka's vaults in the past (even though this is absolutely something you would mention). When Dieter meets Tanaka in the flesh shortly after, he's too busy worrying about political correctness to let on that he's already deeply familiar with liberating Bly's finances.
Army of Thieves now needs to explain this disconnect. One intriguing possibility is that Army of Thieves' protagonists are still going after Bly Tanaka in Army of the Dead, and secretly made sure Scott would come to Dieter with the Vegas offer. Army of the Dead might even hint toward this, as Dieter's shop is called "Gwendoline's Safe & Lock co." which provides an early reference to Nathalie Emmanuel's Army of Thieves character. Maybe the shop was designed by Gwendoline and Dieter to attract Scott's attention, and the safe-cracker had a secret mission of his own during the casino mission?
