Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas - The zombie Prequel That Almost Was!
Zack Snyder's Animated Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas - A Status Update
Remember Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead? That awesome zombie heist movie from 2021? Well, there was going to be an animated prequel series, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas! But it got canceled. The show, supposedly ready to go, got scrapped by Netflix. Now, thanks to an exclusive chat with producer Jay Oliva at New York Comic Con, we've got some inside scoop on what happened. Get ready, because this is juicy.
The movie was a big hit for Netflix, so it was no surprise when the prequel got announced – starring Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, and Tig Notaro, just to name some seriously big names, it was supposed to be huge! The main guy Snyder said there were some serious technical problems which got this production delayed which made audiences uncertain of its release. This however changed once Oliva revealed some surprising developments concerning this project!
Oliva Spills the (Almost) Full Story
Oliva, who was the showrunner for the animated series, was incredibly clear regarding much of this canceled production. Most things had already been completed prior to cancellation. The scripts, recordings and most animation sequences already exist! And guess what – Oliva says it’s amazing! This quote from Oliva sums it all up:
"I mean, they haven't said I can't say anything. We completed mostly everything. We were in animation, but then Netflix eventually pulled the plug. So I don't know. I offered to say, hey, let's try to finish it. But I think their plan is to maybe do a Rebel Moon animated. I don't know. I'm not a part of that. But what I did with Zack on Lost Vegas was amazing, and it's sad that you guys won't see it. But there's no reason that Netflix couldn't revive it because all the pre-production was done. We were just in animation. All we had to do was to get it finished animated. But it looked great. In fact, what you see in Infinity: Paradise Lost is kind of like what it could look like, because the look of this was what I was trying to do with Lost Vegas."
The key takeaway: it’s ready, almost ready. All it needs is finishing touches to animation – yet Netflix decided not to pursue it.
What are the Chances of Seeing Lost Vegas?
It's definitely unlikely this thing is getting released in the near future! Mostly depending on Netflix changing their mind. Oliva and Snyder worked amazingly well together previously; making their relationship incredibly important regarding any revival for Lost Vegas. The creative relationship and their combined skills could strongly convince Netflix to reconsider! That alone should hopefully make many excited to see it.
Snyder himself talked with Total Film in 2023; mentioning that this entire animated prequel was almost complete and ready; all the writing, and most recording finished; making any new attempts easier, should they ever decide to launch the show after its unexpected cancellation. It makes any production relaunch relatively straightforward; adding potential momentum due to that largely completed creative effort. Oliva being showrunner remains the logical choice too – especially as Snyder's focus is on his Rebel Moon universe. This could be bad for now – unless another streaming giant picks up this surprisingly easy and high quality content!
Our Guess: What Could Lost Vegas Have Been?
Being a prequel makes the narrative almost predictable! It would start much before the events from Army of the Dead – potentially covering how the heist team came together; revealing what really happened and how the zombie virus started; possibly building character arcs focusing on figures like Maria Cruz, Marianne Peters, and Kate!
And Snyder mentioned a potential plot element to this show which creates immense additional excitement and makes viewers eager to see this storyline come into play. He is referring to those elements shown briefly in other Snyderverse titles; those instances where certain key characters jump between dimensions, resulting in those cross-dimensional characters becoming integrated into another major Snyderverse storyline.
Conclusion: Lost Vegas Remains an Unfinished Masterpiece
The unexpected cancellation of Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas is sad, especially after Oliva’s revealing statements and descriptions concerning how this almost finished project remains, mostly completed! There was really minimal animation effort needed! This suggests the animation should be easy enough and ready to finish. Yet this could still be revived–it's waiting, almost ready; and considering that combined experience and the potential for another amazing series; especially considering those links that could potentially intertwine within the Snyderverse— it sounds too amazing for such a potential lost opportunity!
