The Zombie Moment That Horror Fans Didn't Get To See In Army Of The Dead
More than other movie monsters, zombies have evolved significantly over the years. From the shambling corpses in "Night of the Living Dead" to fast, vicious monsters in "28 Days Later," all iterations are valid. Zack Snyder's latest directorial offering — "Army of the Dead" — takes all these versions and smashes them together while adding a few exciting wrinkles of its own.
When the team first enters Las Vegas, they soon realize these zombies may want brains, but they're not brainless. They're a lot smarter than most living-dead properties portray them as the Zombie Queen (Athena Perample) shows she's able to communicate with her underlings and come to a compromise with the humans. Not only that, but there's a level of emotional connection between the monsters as the Zombie King (Richard Cetrone) maintains a passionate relationship with his Queen. Combine that with robot zombies and the fact that the undead can become impregnated, and there are many facets to this world to explore in the upcoming "Lost Vegas" series based on the film.
Another aspect of the movie future properties will likely explore includes the concept of "dried out" zombies. When the team first enters the city, Lily (Nora Arnezeder) mentions how the zombie bodies littering the ground come back to life whenever it rains. It's an intriguing idea that's sadly never paid off, making it an unfired Chekhov's gun that rubs fans the wrong way.
A literal army could have risen with some rain
One can imagine a different version of "Army of the Dead" playing out where the team gets the cash, and just when they think they're in the clear, it starts to rain. All around them, zombies start standing upright, preparing to chase after them. It's a moment that would call to mind the classic undead movie trope where the monsters rise from their graves, but alas, Las Vegas remains as dry as Tig Notaro's sense of humor throughout the film's runtime.
Redditor u/stevenw84 started a massive thread by pointing out, "[The mercenaries] were told that the mass of zombies 'dried out' due to the excessive heat, and would come back to life again when it rains. Thought it was a cool bit of in-universe knowledge, though it didn't actually pay off." Below that comes a litany of comments of people agreeing on how they wished they would've seen a significant moment where the corpses around them became re-animated. Some choice statements include, "Seriously, I was holding on the whole time for the rain to raise the army of the dead" and "I was hoping to see that happen. Bad tease."
Others interpret Lily's proclamation differently with u/Medium-Truth844 suggesting, "I interpreted it as her messing with Dieter." It's not even the only tease with no payoff, as u/MrCougardoom claims, "Just like that damn saw in the opening montage...that was seen being used, later unpacked, and taken with them." These are just some of the small details from "Army of the Dead" that left fans with lingering questions gnawing away at them. Much of it seems to come down to world-building for an anime-inspired series and prequel film in the works, so hopefully, this aspect of the world gets the attention it deserves eventually.