Zack Snyder Teases Future Of The Army Of The Dead Universe: 'I Promise There Will Be Zombies'

"Army of Thieves," Matthias Schweighöfer's European heist movie prequel to Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead," is now streaming on Netflix, and it's not a tremendous spoiler to say that, other than a glimpse of news footage and one dream sequence, there are no real zombies in it. Just a safecracker named Dieter and his cohorts.

That's all well and good, but if you'd rather have some zombies to go with your heisting, you may be wondering what the future holds in store for the burgeoning shared universe that is "Army of the Dead." What about that "Army of the Dead" sequel? Well, it has a name now: "Planet of the Dead."

There's also an anime series, "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas," on the way. We first heard about that back when "Army of Thieves" was announced, but Snyder discussed some more specifics of it this week in a new interview with Variety. Speaking of "Planet of the Dead," "Lost Vegas," and the "Army of the Dead" franchise in general, Snyder said:

"First of all, I know exactly what I'd want to see in the sequel. We're doing the animated series, which will come out next year. The animated series very much delves deeply into the 'why' of the zombie apocalypse and where the zombies come from exactly. I think the time loops, portals, doorways to other realms, things of that nature, are very much in play. So all of those clues that Dieter gives us are very much part of how we continue to spiral out the 'Army of the Dead' universe."

When Snyder refers to "time loops, portals, doorways to other realms," that makes it sound like the skeleton scene outside the casino vault in "Army of the Dead" wasn't just a throwaway gag. It's a surreal moment when the camera fixates on the familiar clothes these skeletons are wearing, and Dieter's reluctant pal, Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), starts suggesting that the skeletons are them and they're caught in a time loop. But Snyder seems to envision the "Army of the Dead" universe as a genre-busting place. He continued:

"I love the genre aspect. It's rare, and maybe unprecedented, that there's a cinematic universe where the cinematic part of it is front and center. The deconstruction of different genres is actually part of the way. It's very self-aware. I think that we as an audience and as filmmakers are ready and educated. We're standing by to have fun with the genres we love and deconstruct them, almost from a self-aware cinematic angle, which makes this universe of movies really interesting. It's movies for people who love movies, without letting anyone off the hook as far as the drama and suspense. And I promise there will be zombies."

I don't really know what he's talking about there when he says it's rare and unprecedented to have "a cinematic universe where the cinematic part of it is front and center." But that's Snyder for you. He operates on a different level—on his own wacky "Rebel Moon," so to speak.

"Army of the Dead" and "Army of Thieves" are streaming on Netflix now.