
When it comes to the team’s interactions with each other, Snyder assured us that while the film is as fun and bombastic as we expected, the character work is the backbone of the film and informs all the action.
Scott de Bautista reluctantly lets his distant and militant daughter Kate (Ella Purcell) join his team in the film, and they are forced to work out their issues while they complete the mission. Joining them will be the friend and skillful mechanic of Scott Cruz (Ana de la Reguera), helicopter pilot Marianne (Tig Notaro), expert zombie slayer Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), reckless social media influencer Guzman. (Raúl Castillo), Casino Security Chief Martin (Garret Dillahunt) and Scott’s compatriot Chambers (Samantha Win). The film also stars Nora Arnezeder, Theo Rossi, Huma S. Qureshi and Matthias Schweighöfer
âBasically, it’s a relationship movie,â Snyder says. “[Scott] and her daughter try to mend their relationship during the film. She shouldn’t have been on a mission but she is somehow cheating on him. It’s that little relationship movie inside of everything about a father who kind of abandons his child and tries to fix it. On top of that, it’s pure genre madness.
From what we were shown on set that day, the movie certainly looks like it’s up to the genre, both for zombies and heists. Snyder and company had rented the entire casino floor at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, and they spent several days filming frantic zombie-killing action scenes involving a ton of wire work and big, noisy guns. (which Snyder himself tested with vertigo). There were dozens of zombie extras running around, and the casino floor was so littered with the bodies of inanimate zombies that we had to watch our footsteps virtually everywhere we went. Rest assured, the film will be packed with action.
Another way Snyder and his team are trying to do Army of the dead a gradual entry into the genre is with its deliberately diverse cast.
âWhat was really important for us was to have global distribution,â says producer Deborah Snyder. âBeing on Netflix, the majority of the audience is international. There is no reason the cast should be all American, all white. And it was really important to us, and me especially, that women were as strong as their male counterparts. It’s something I fight for, especially in acting and genre. Their characters have depth.