How Army Of Thieves Sets Up Zack Snyder’s Army Of The Dead

While Army of Thieves serves as a largely separate prequel to Army of the Dead, it does feature a few elements that help set up the zombie film.

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Warning! SPOILERS for Army of Thieves

While Netflix’s Army of Thieves exists as a somewhat separate prequel to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, there are a few key elements from the former that help set up the latter zombie film, while simultaneously confirming their shared existence in the same world where Nevada has been overrun by the infected. Directed by and starring Matthias Schweighöfer, Army of Thieves features Ludwig Dieter before he joined Scott Ward’s (Dave Bautista) crew to infiltrate Las Vegas as their safecracker.

Prior to the Vegas job to crack into one of the most secure vaults in the world to steal 200 million dollars, Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert was a simple safecracking enthusiast with no criminal background. However, his recruitment by a master thief known as Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) lead to an adventure that put his skills to the ultimate test, allowing him to acquire practical application experience while attempting to crack into each vault of the Ring Cycle, a collection of vaults created by the legendary locksmith Hans Wagner. This all occurred amid the apocalyptic backdrop of a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas.

While this prequel film sees the world somewhat distracted by what’s happening in Las Vegas, the connection to the Zack Snyder zombie film is fairly minimal, and the connections that do exist are largely focused on the future Ludwig Dieter himself. Here are all the major connections and ways Army of Thieves sets of Army of The Dead.

Army of Thieves Shows Zombies on TV (& In Dreams)

At the beginning of Army of Thieves, Sebastian Schlencht-Wöhnert is living a routine life while posting videos of his safecracking hobby on Youtube. However, while working a bank teller, he becomes aware of the zombie virus in America. While this has little effect on his daily life living in Germany, Sebastian hasn’t stopped having nightmares about zombies attacking him. As the film goes on, the zombies in Nevada are featured a few times on various televisions as well.

Sebastian has two significant nightmares where he dreams he’s being attacked by zombies. After waking up from his second zombie dream (having been with Gwendoline’s crew for some time), it’s suggested by tech-wizard Korina (Ruby O. Fee) c. While this was meant simply to tease Sebastian, it does serve as unintentional foreshadowing for Sebastian’s future as Dieter in Army of the Dead.

Army of Thieves Shows Dieter’s Safecracker Background

One of the biggest things Army of Thieves provides as setup for Army of the Dead is Sebastian’s evolution into a criminal safecracker. Before joining Gwendoline’s crew in Army of Thieves, Sebastian was just a hobbyist. However, thanks to pushes from Gwendoline and the opportunity to crack into the greatest vaults in the world, Sebastian is able to gain practical experience prior to cracking the safe in Las Vegas. Had he not had these first three vaults to crack into first in Army of Thieves, Sebastian might not have done so well with the one in Army of the Dead, especially with the added pressure of a zombie outbreak.

Army of Thieves Reveals Vault Backstory

The vaults in question are revealed to all be the creation of Hans Wagner, including the one featured in Army of the Dead’s Vegas heist known as the Götterdämmerung. Known as the “Ring Cycle,” these four vaults were the final creations of German locksmith Hasn Wagner which he fashioned after the works of his namesake Richard Wagner and his magnum opus opera Der Ring des Nibelungen. However, only the locations of the Rheingold, The Valkyrie, and The Siegfried are confirmed and sought after by the crew in Army of Thieves, leaving the rumored fourth Götterdämmerung to be cracked by Dieter in Army of the Dead.

Army of Thieves also reveals that all four vaults are owned by Bly Tanaka, the man who hired Scott Ward’s crew in Army of the Dead. While his secret goal was to secure the head of the zombie alpha to be weaponized by the US government, it is interesting that he owned the entire Ring Cycle, serving as a testament to his vast wealth and power while further proving that he couldn’t have cared less about securing the 200 million. Also, the existence of the Ring Cycle, with Sebastian having already cracked the first three, explains why he was so quick to join Ward’s team. Rather than being interested in the money, Sebastian was motivated to finish his quest like he promised Gwendoline he would before she was arrested, allowing him to escape to America.

Army of Thieves Gives Dieter His Army of the Dead Name

Army of Thieves also gives Sebastian the name he uses in Army of the Dead: Ludwig Dieter. As he revealed in a more intimate moment with Gwendoline, Sebastian had come up with the name as a child imagining himself as a superhero safecracker who used the name Ludwig Dieter rather than his real name which Gwendoline confesses is quite the mouthful. Essentially, the name was an alter ego, existing as a representation of Sebastian’s most confident self.

However, after Sebastian manages to escape the authorities after Gwen and the rest of the crew are arrested, he discovers passports and tickets Gwendoline had secured so they could escape to America and search for the rumored Götterdämmerung, and his passport bore the name Ludwig Dieter. Gwendoline remembered the name, making her responsible for the new alias he goes by in Army of the Dead.

While Army of Thieves ends with the scene where Scott Ward and Maria Cruz recruit Dieter from Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, it now carries a whole new light now that viewers are aware of the emotional motivations behind Dieter’s name and his quest to find the last vault in the Ring Cycle. As such, while Army of Thieves doesn’t do much to set up Army of the Dead overall, it does make Matthias Schweighöfer’s Ludwig Dieter a much more interesting character than he already was by providing his character with a dynamic backstory.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/army-thieves-army-dead-shared-universe-story-setup/