Netflix has quietly canceled Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead franchise plans

For a while, Zack Snyder was building a cinematic universe for the Netflix streaming service that centered on his zombie movie Army of the Dead. The film was quickly followed by a prequel called Army of Thieves, a sequel called Planet of the Dead was being written, and an anime series called Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas was in the works. But Snyder has since shifted his focus over to building a multi-media universe around his Rebel Moon sci-fi movies – and The Wrap has revealed that Netflix “quietly canceled” plans for an Army of the Dead Universe.

In an article on the Rebel Moon films that features interviews with Snyder and his wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder, The Wrap mentions, “Army of the Dead, a movie the Snyders made for Netflix before Rebel Moon, had a similarly ambitious (universe/franchise) plan, with several sequels and spin-offs in the works (one, the prequel Army of Thieves, was actually released), along with an animated series. The animated series was quietly canceled, along with plans for subsequent films. Zack said, “We are very ambitious with everything.” And Army of the Dead isn’t entirely dead, as Deborah pointed out that there will be a themed experience coming to the Six Flags theme parks this Halloween. “It’s going to be a really cool experience,” she added.“

The Army of the Dead film took place after a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, where a man assembles a group of mercenaries to take the ultimate gamble: venturing into the quarantined zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas was supposed to serve as an “origin story” for Scott (Dave Bautista) and highlight his rescue crew’s efforts to protect all they love during the first phases of the mysterious zombie outbreak in Vegas.

Dave Bautista, Ana De La Reguera, Tig Notaro, Omari Hardwick, and Ella Purnell all provided the voices of their Army of the Dead characters for the anime, and they were joined in the voice cast by Joe Manganiello, Christian Slater, Harry Lennix, Ross Butler, Anya Chalotra, Vanessa Hudgens, Yetide Badaki, Christina Wren, Monica Barbaro, Jena Malone, and Nolan North. 

Speaking with Inverse in 2021, Snyder hinted that Matthias Schweighöfer may reprise his Army of Thieves and Army of the Dead role of Ludwig Dieter in Planet of the Dead, and that Schweighöfer’s Army of Thieves co-star Nathalie Emmanuel (as a character named Gwendoline) might get mixed up in the zombie action with him. He said (SPOILERS if you haven’t watched Army of the Dead): “The real adventure would be to see what happened to (Ludwig Dieter) when that safe door closed. Did he get killed by Zeus or not? What happened? We don’t see him die on camera, and there’s still some time left. I won’t tell you what happens in Army of the Dead 2 — aka Planet of the Dead — but let’s just say that there’s a chance Dieter survives. And there’s a chance that brush with death would have caused him to want to find a jailed Gwendoline.“

But apparently we’re never going to hear the lines the Army of the Dead cast recorded for the Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas anime and won’t see Dieter and Gwendoline reunite in Planet of the Dead. Netflix decided the Army of the Dead Universe is already big enough.

Are you disappointed to hear that the Army of the Dead Universe plans have been canceled? Let us know by leaving a comment below.