Netflix Greenlights Prequel and Anime Series for Zack Snyder’s Upcoming ‘Army of the Dead’

2021 is bound to be a big year for Zack Snyder. Not only is Warner Bros. going to release “Justice League: The Synder Cut” but the famed director also has “Army of the Dead” on deck—a zombie action heist feature set to launch on Netflix. With anticipation building around “Army of the Dead,” Netflix, for the first time in history, has greenlit a prequel feature and spin-off anime series before the film is out yet.

According to Deadline, the prequel is to be directed by Matthias Schweighöfer who also stars in the film and will reprise his role Ludwig Dieter from “Army of the dead. Shay Hatten, who wrote on the first movie, will come back as a writer on both the prequel as well as the anime series.

The anime series, titled “Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas,” will follow the origin story of Scott, played by Dave Bautista, “and his rescue crew during the initial fall of Vegas as they confront the mysterious source of the zombie outbreak” Deadline reports. Snyder is slated to direct two episodes of series, while Jay Oliva—who also directed Netflix’s original anime series “Trese”—will serve as showrunner and director on some episodes.

“I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity to partner with Netflix again as we expand the ‘Army of the Dead’ universe with both an international prequel, as well as exploring the visually dynamic world of animation. It’s been a great collaboration and we are thrilled that Netflix sees this as big of an IP as we do,” stated Snyder.

The upcoming “Army of the Dead” feature chronicles life after a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, and the group of mercenaries who use the opportunity to pull off a big heist. The movie stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, and Samantha Win.