Based on nothing but his filmography as a writer, director and producer, Zack Snyder clearly loves zombies and superheroes above all else. Of the 21 movies and two TV shows to his name, including his quartet of in-development Netflix projects, eighteen of them are either comic book adaptations or involve hordes of the undead.
Army of Thieves isn’t a zombie film per se, but it does feature several fever dreams experienced by Matthias Schweighöfer’s Dieter that tie directly to the apocalypse unfolding over in Las Vegas, which he ultimately finds himself in the middle of six years later when Army of the Dead takes place.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the actor and director confirmed that the little girl seen during one of his hallucinations is a direct homage to the opening scene of Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, where a zombified child causes havoc right from the off.
“We tried to find even the same dress that the girl was wearing in Dawn of the Dead. We couldn’t find it, but it’s quite a similar shot.”
Snyder’s fingerprints are all over Army of Thieves even if he didn’t direct it himself, so it’s a fitting nod towards his feature debut that may not have been picked up on by a lot of audiences. With direct sequel Planet of the Dead and animated companion series Lost Vegas both on the way, the filmmaker’s love of zombies is set to continue for a long time to come.
