Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead has certainly made an impact since arriving on Friday, from dominating the Netflix charts to sparking the prospect of a lot more entries in the same universe. One of the most intriguing discussions around the Las Vegas zombie heist, though, has involved whether additional characters survived than are shown on screen and to this end, Snyder has teased that one person who seemed gone for good may’ve actually made it out alive.
Of course, we know that Ella Purnell’s Kate Ward emerged from the final act’s helicopter crash in one piece, and that Omari Hardwick’s Vanderohe overcame a nuclear blast and boarded a plane prior to realizing he’d been infected. However, Matthias Schweighöfer’s Ludwig Dieter might also have avoided a grisly fate, at least if Snyder’s hints are to be taken at face value.
Talking to TheFilmJunkee, the director had this to say:
“We don’t see [Dieter] die, that’s true. That’s fair. You would say in a horror movie if we don’t see you die … by the rules of horror…”
For those who’ve seen Army of the Dead, you’ll know that Dieter manages to get Vanderohe into the casino safe before being dragged back by super zombie Zeus. However, it’s never definitively confirmed that he’s then killed, and based on other humans being spared by Zeus, it’s not impossible that the safe breaker escaped. One complication, though, is whether he’d also survive the strike on Vegas, but he could have done so if he was underground near the highly fortified vault.
Indeed, Dieter is among the stars of the upcoming Army of Thieves, the prequel set in the aftermath of the events seen at the beginning of Army of the Dead, so he’s clearly an important part of Snyder’s story plans. And with an animated series also coming to Netflix, the actor already has ambitions to expand on what went down after the initial zombie outbreak. Whether this means Dieter will reappear in a sequel as well, though, is another question altogether.
