As the world created in Army of the Dead is set to expand with the prequel film Army of Thieves, Zack Snyder jokes about the next spinoff being a musical. Army of the Dead hit Netflix in May, where it became a massive success for the streaming service. The film saw Dave Bautista lead a team of mercenaries into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to pull off a heist. Since the film's release, Snyder hasn't shied away from details about his plans to expand the Army of the Dead universe, and he was quick to announce the next project, Army of Thieves.
Army of Thieves, which recently released a trailer, is set to focus on Dieter, Army of the Dead's safecracker. The film is a prequel that will feature a heist Dieter took part in near the onset of the zombie outbreak. Snyder is a producer on the film and he shares story credit with Shay Hatten, who got sole screenplay credit. Matthias Schweighöfer, the actor who portrays Dieter in both films, also took on directing duties for Army of Thieves. Schweighöfer will also share the screen with Fast & Furious franchise alum Nathalie Emmanuel.
During Comic-Con@Home 2021 (via Comic-Con International), Zack Snyder, accompanied by fellow producers Wesley Coller and Deborah Snyder, as well as Schweighöfer, discussed the upcoming Army of Thieves with Netflix Geeked. Highlighting that Dieter was a standout character in Army of the Dead's ensemble cast, Schweighöfer drops a few details on what to expect from Dieter in the new film. First, he hints at the character finding love before joking, "to be honest, it's a musical." While the statement garnered laughs from everyone involved, the moderators were quick to question the statement. Snyder then replied, "No, though that's a cool genre we haven't cracked yet, so maybe if we do one more spinoff, it should be a musical."
While the world of Army of the Dead doesn't seem right for a musical, it wouldn't be the first time there was a zombie-themed musical. The most notable example would be Anna and the Apocalypse, a horror-comedy musical that sees the characters singing and dancing their way through violent zombie encounters against the backdrop of the Christmas season. While being full of the gore zombie fans expect, Anna and the Apocalypse is very humorous, and it knows how to have fun with its premise. Unfortunately, whether the world of Army of the Dead could pull off anything similar seems iffy. Sure, there are humorous moments peppered into Army of the Dead, which looks to continue in Army of Thieves, but still, the films seemingly take themselves a bit too seriously to fully venture into musical territory.
Given that the comments about an Army of the Dead musical were simply a joke, audiences shouldn't expect anything like that from the franchise. However, there has already been an anime project announced in Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, which offers a unique opportunity to expand the franchise. So while a musical may not be in the future, clearly, Snyder is open to different avenues when it comes to Army of the Dead. Snyder is likely to announce further installments as they draw near, and audiences will get to see Army of Thieves when it releases on Netflix later this year.
Source: Comic-Con International
