Director Zack Snyder has added to the debate around a time loop in Army of the Dead by acknowledging the persistent fan theory. Snyder’s most recently released work is a fast paced zombie heist film that further underscores the director’s love for the zombie genre. His first attempt at the genre came in 2004 with a remake Dawn of the Dead, the classic George A. Romero tale of undead legions that lay siege to an abandoned shopping mall.
With its fast paced action and ambitious setting, Army of the Dead is very much a modern take on the zombie concept. The mixture of action and horror is a long way from the origins of the genre, yet at the same time, there’s much in Snyder’s work to link it to what’s come before. In fact, the film itself acknowledges a potential time loop, hinting that the group of mercenaries tasked with pulling off a major Las Vegas heist are actually simply repeating the same challenges again and again. This theory is first offered by Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) while the team is still working to get into the vault. Three nearby skeletons are discovered, dressed in clothing that is similar to what the crew is wearing. Vanderohe suggests that they are lost in some infinite loop of fighting and dying, fighting and dying.
While the remainder of Army of the Dead is a little more covert in terms of indicating that a time loop is indeed at play, fans have been discussing it ever since the film’s release. There are many questions to answer regarding the theory, however, and until recently, Snyder was keeping rather quiet about the entire thing. But as The Wrap reports, during Netflix’s Geeked Week stream, the 55-year-old director seemed completely open to the time loop theory, even admitting that there are “a lot of clues in the movie that would support that theory.” Read Snyder's full quote below:
So in the movie, there’s a sequence where one of the characters talks about the fact that maybe this whole adventure that they’re on, they’re caught in some infinite loop of fighting and dying and fighting and dying. And, um, it might be true. Who knows? There’s a lot of clues in the movie that would support that theory. For instance, you see in that sequence, you see that there’s some skeletons. in the vault there’s like a shot of each of them, and you see a shot of one of our characters, and they happen to be wearing like the same necklace or the same — it’s them. When they actually get in the casino there’s a set of plans, and Scott says Tanaka had other teams in here before us. If you notice, the dead guys around that table are them again. So if you wanna play that game, it’s there to play.
It does seem as though Snyder is attempting to play a game with his audience and just what he’s got planned is hard to say. What is known is that to date, there are already two different productions related to Army of the Dead on their way. Animated prequel series, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, will focus on the origins of the zombies who went on to destroy Las Vegas and Army of Thieves will be Snyder’s live-action prequel that will apparently direct its focus toward safe cracker, Ludwig Dieter. Undoubtedly, each production will offer even more clues to the time loop theory.
The idea of a time loop in Army of the Dead is an intriguing one, but it also feels slightly forced. There is such a thing as putting too many genres in one film, which can ultimately result in an overly elaborate mess. So far, Snyder has the heist genre and the zombie genre mixed together, which works to a certain extent. However, throwing time traveling into what’s already established will require some very strong writing to pull off, and although Army of the Dead is entertaining, its script isn’t particularly strong. Whatever happens next, there’s no doubt that a lot of questions will need to be answered.
Source: The Wrap