What is the Army of the Dead 2 release date? In 2021, Zack Snyder kickstarted a new undead franchise, so here are all the details on the sequel.
When the zombie movie Army of the Dead took Netflix by storm, it spawned a prequel movie, Army of Thieves, with animated series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas also in the works. But, as the Army-verse continues to spread across the streaming service, many are wondering specifically about the franchise’s next chapter and itching for news on a direct sequel.
Well, fear not, spooky fans, Army of the Dead 2, now named Planet of the Dead, is officially on its way. Netflix confirmed the horror movie had been greenlit back in July 2021, and considering all the questions and cliff-hangers left by the first film; we couldn’t be more thrilled. So, like any good monster hunters, ahead of the Army of the Dead 2 release date, we at The Digital Fix have gathered all the info you need below.
Army of the Dead 2 release date speculation
As of March 2023 there is no Army of the Dead 2 release date, but the good news is that the film is definitely on its way, and we may get an update sooner rather than later on a potential release window.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed in 2021, that work on Planet of the Dead would begin once Zack Snyder finished his other upcoming Netflix science fiction movie, Rebel Moon.
“Snyder will be spending more time in the Army-verse,” the publication shared. “On the docket is a sequel he is developing with the first movie’s co-writer, Shay Hatten, something he would tackle after Rebel Moon.”
Since filming for Rebel Moon began in April 2022 and taking the post-production stage into account, it seems like the earliest time for development on Army of the Dead 2 to start will be in 2023.
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However, take that prediction with a grain of undead salt, since we don’t have a release date for Rebel Moon yet. Depending on Rebel Moon’s production, Army of the Dead 2 could release either in late 2023 or 2024.
Army of the Dead 2 plot speculation
Although there is no official synopsis for the Army of The Dead 2 plot, it is pretty obvious that the sequel will follow on from the cliffhanger of the first movie. Spoilers, it involves more zombie outbreaks!
Army of the Dead introduced us to the Army-Verse, a world where Las Vegas has been overrun by Zombies, leaving human residents stuck in quarantine camps. In this universe, there are two types of zombies: Alpha’s, intelligent and fast-moving, and Shamblers, your typical slow-moving monsters.
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In the action movie, we saw a group of humans band together under the command of billionaire Bly Tanaka to pull off a huge heist before the government nukes the now undead city of Vegas.
But as you can imagine, this plan didn’t end well, especially once it was revealed that Tanaka wasn’t after cash, but instead wanted the head of an Alpha Zombie for some nefarious military schemes.
At the end of Army of the Dead, we saw plenty of the characters meet their demise, as did the city of Vegas under the government’s attack. But Zombies aren’t gone from the world yet friends.
One of the final shots of the film saw the character Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) survive the overall heist, but as he boards a plane to Mexico City, it is revealed that he has a zombie bite on his arm.
The bite most likely comes from the Alpha zombie king Zeus, meaning that Vanderohe will turn into a smart Alpha zombie (aka the super dangerous kind) and will be unleashed on the wider world once that plane lands.
Army of the Dead 2 will likely follow the fallout of Vanderohe’s revelation, and see the world reeling from a new and unquarantined outbreak. The sequel may also answer some other lingering questions that the first movie left wide open.
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Where did the Alpha zombie king Zeus (supposedly the first Alpha) come from? Are there more like him? What are Tanaka’s plans now? And finally, did the government really stop the outbreak? Or are there more infected like Vanderohe roaming around America?
Snyder hasn’t revealed much in the way of answering any of these big questions, but he did hint that the sequel will feature another heist of some kind. “Shay [Hatten] and I have been talking about the straight sequel to Army of the Dead being possibly a sci-fi actioner with horror elements,” he explained to Variety. “So that’s a fun genre, probably with a heist at its centre.”
Snyder also teased to Inverse that the upcoming plot may feature Matthias Schweighöfer’s Ludwig Dieter, who many fans believed to have perished in the last movie. Remember, that last we saw him, he seemingly sacrificed himself to an angry zombie Zeus to save Vanderohe.
“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,” Snyder teased to Inverse. “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.”
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Snyder also confirmed that zombie robots in the Army-verse are canon during an interview with Comicbook.com. So, we imagine that that will also be a point addressed in Army of the Dead 2’s upcoming plot, which the director did say has more sci-fi elements than its predecessor.
“If you pay close attention, there is a number of zombies that are clearly not zombies. You see normal zombies, and then you see some robot zombies,” the filmmaker said.
“Are they monitors that the government has placed among the zombies to monitor them? Are they technology from the other world? What’s happening there?”
Army of the Dead 2 cast speculation
Most of the characters from the first movie didn’t survive, so a lot of the original actors are unlikely to make an appearance in the Army of the Dead 2 cast. However, saying that, just as Snyder hinted that Ludwig may have lived, there is an open door for some stars to reprise their roles from the first thriller movie.
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Of the main cast, we know for certain that Vanderohe (played by Omari Hardwick) and Kate Ward (played by Ella Purnell) made it out of Vegas alive. Vanderohe will undoubtedly play a huge part in the next movie, thanks to his pesky zombie bite so expect to see him for sure.
Kate will probably be up to bat for the upcoming sequel, too, as she enters a new character arc. In Army of the Dead fans saw her shoot her infected father, Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), leaving her alone as she embarks on her life’s next chapter.
Snyder has already hinted that Matthias Schweighöfer may return to Army of the dead 2 as Ludwig Dieter, and also teased that the character will “want to find a jailed Gwendoline” in Army of the Dead 2, if he did survive.
That means that if Ludwig does turn up in the sequel so will Gwendoline, who was played by Nathalie Emmanuel in the prequel movie Army of Thieves. Another ambiguous character that may return to the franchise is Geeta (played by Huma Qureshi).
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In Army of the Dead, viewers never actually saw what happened to the character at the end of the movie when the helicopter flying out of Las Vegas crashed.
“I’ll say one thing,” Qureshi told Bollywood Life,” In a horror movie, if you don’t die on screen, then you’re not dead.” That sounds like promising casting news to us, and hopefully, Qureshi confirms her involvement in Army of the Dead 2 soon!
And that’s all undead folks! Everything we know about Army of the Dead 2. For more horror fun, have a look at our list of the best horror series. If that’s not enough, we’ve got a guide to all the new movies coming in 2023. Or, for more zombie fun, check out our guide to the Marvel Zombies release date.
