Dave Bautista says Army of the Dead is more political than people would expect. Army of the Dead is Zack Snyder's highly anticipated return to the zombie genre nearly two decades after his first film Dawn of the Dead, a reimagination of George A. Romero's 1978 classic of the same name. Snyder's upcoming zombie flick will also be his first project outside of DC's Extended Universe since 2011's underseen Sucker Punch. Though, the filmmaker does not appear to be finished with franchise filmmaking. With two other installments already on the way, Army of Dead looks to be the start of a larger zombie universe for Snyder.
Army of the Dead will follow Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy) and his group of all-star mercenaries as they attempt a massive heist underneath the Las Vegas Strip as the city is teeming with zombies. So far, Army of the Dead's marketing campaign has been sending a clear signal that it will not be a typical zombie apocalypse film, especially based on comments Snyder and others have made. While Army of the Dead will certainly feature plenty of zombie mayhem, Bautista has said the film has "so many more layers" than that.
During a set visit in 2019, Screen Rant had the chance to talk with the star of Army of the Dead, Bautista. When asked about the role the relationship between his character Scott Ward and his daughter Kate (Ella Purnell) will play in the film, Bautista had this to say about Army of the Dead's many layers:
With Scott, there's obviously a father-daughter story. I guess it's a little unusual for a big crazy zombie film.
There's so many different things in this film. There's so many different layers to this film. There's a lot of relationship things. It’s a lot of heartbreak, but also, this film is a lot more political than people think it is. I'll just spell it out right now. I don't know if you guys are watching the news playing on the monitors over there. It's very political. And it makes it relevant. I think most people just see it as a zombie heist and that's what it is, but some people who pick it apart will find some political relevance to it as well.
Though Snyder has leaned heavily towards comic book and superhero films over his career, he appears to be dipping his toe into the waters of social and political commentary with his next film, much like how George A. Romero used a zombie-infested mall to critique consumerism. While Bautista was fairly vague about Army of the Dead's political relevance, Snyder says the film examines "how a zombie plague would affect the disenfranchised and how the government might use something like a zombie plague to take away certain freedoms."
Considering that Bautista's comment was made in 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, current events regarding the novel coronavirus will only infuse the film with additional political resonance. Though not inherently political, Army of the Dead and other zombie apocalypse films like it certainly hit differently after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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April 22, 2021 at 06:20AM
