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After the premiere of Matthias Schweighöfer's Army of Thieves, questions about the link between the movie and Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead have risen. The former is the prequel to the latter, that's for sure. But there are still many links between the two in terms of premise and key characters.
The plot Army of Thieves revolves around the safe cracker Ludwig Dieter and his journey into the world of crime. He puts his extraordinary safecracking skills to use by joining a group of thieves to pull off the biggest heists.
The sequel, Army of the Dead, is set six years later, post a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. A group of mercenaries, including Ludwig Dieter, plan the ultimate heist.
'Army of Thieves': How does the movie connect to Army of the Dead?
It's time to answer some burning questions about Netflix's Army of Thieves as well as its link to Army of the Dead.
Where is Gwen in 'Army of the Dead'?
Towards the end of Army of Thieves, Gwendoline, after being captured by Interpol, tells Ludwig that she will find him once she is free from prison. Even though the sequel, Army of the Dead, is set six years later Gwen is nowhere to be seen.
This means, not enough time has passed for her to be set free or escape prison.
Ludwig still goes ahead and joins the guys to crack the final safe because he knows that's what Gwen would've wanted for him. He also hasn't really moved on as the shop Scott Ward finds him working at is named Gwendoline's Safe & Lock Co.
How does Ludwig get to Las Vegas?
In Army of the Dead, Ludwig Dieter is seen in Las Vegas on the run before he stumbles across Scott Ward and his squad, but how did he get there?
In Army of Thieves, when Delacroix successfully captures Gwendoline and agrees to her bargain of letting Ludwig go, he escapes. He discovers a fake passport and a plane ticket that Gwen had already arranged for.
Ludwig then flies to California and then heads to Las Vegas in order to honor Gwendoline's sacrifice by cracking the legendary Götterdämmerung safe. This is where the movie connects to its sequel, Army of the Dead, as Ludwig joins Scott Ward as both are on the same mission.
What is Bly Tanaka's role in 'Army of Thieves'?
Viewers know that Bly Tanaka is the mastermind behind the vaults in Army of the Dead. He is the client who hires Scott Ward and his squad to recover millions of dollars inside a Las Vegas casino vault a.k.a the Götterdämmerung.
What they didn't realize was that he has ulterior motives. The casino mission was just a distraction from the real objective: acquire alpha zombie DNA and sell it to the U.S. Department of Defense, who plans to create its own army of super zombies.
As for Army of Thieves, the money the team is after throughout the movie, is actually in the vaults belonging to Tanaka. This suggests that he might be playing games with each member of Scott's team for a very long time.
What happens to Ludwig in 'Army of the Dead'?
Things didn't go as planned in Las Vegas for Ludwig. He makes his way to the final safe, the Götterdämmerung, and unlocks it like he was meant to. Unfortunately, there's a zombie apocolypse happening and this heist was taking place during it.
In efforts to save Vanderohe, Ludwig gets captured by the alpha zombie Zeus.
Viewers don't exactly see his death on-screen, which means he may have survived it, according to the director Zack Snyder:
"The real adventure would be to see what happened to him when that safe door closed, did he get killed by Zeus or not? What happened? We don't see him die on camera, and there's still some time left. I won't tell you what happens in Army of the Dead 2 but let's just say that there's a chance Dieter survives. And there's a chance that brush with death would have caused him to want to find a jailed Gwendoline."
Army of Thieves may not be a horror movie, but zombies make frequent appearances connecting the two movies. Army of Thieves is a prequel to Army of the Dead and links directly to the latter at the very end - the scene with Scott Ward is connected to the beginning of Army of the Dead.
Army of Thieves is now streaming on Netflix.
