Army of the Dead's Snyder Cut Easter Egg Is Now Even More Significant

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Zack Snyder explained why the Snyder Cut easter egg in Army of the Dead is even more significant now. The director began working on his Netflix zombie epic when his version of Justice League was still a pipe dream. Snyder began filming Army of the Dead in the summer of 2019, long before the words Zack Snyder's Justice League and HBO Max had even been put in a sentence together. Still, the director's version of the film had gained near-mythical status as social media users and actors from Justice League began hinting at the film's existence.

It was eventually announced in 2020 that the Snyder Cut would actually become a reality, hitting HBO Max as a four-hour epic sometime in 2021. Snyder would immediately follow that film up with Army of the Dead on Netflix, his first film outside of the DCEU since 2011. The director has always been a fan of easter eggs, putting plenty of them in his own films. An early Army of the Dead image contained a Snyder Cut easter egg that looked like the film canisters Snyder had previously shown containing his cut of Justice League.

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This easter egg has only grown in significance since it was originally conceived and the director explained why that is. The canisters seen in the vault of the film represent how Snyder's version of Justice League was locked in the director's own vault for years. Snyder described how everything has come full circle since that shot was initially crafted because, at the time, Snyder believed that his version of Justice League would never see the light of day. With Army of the Dead finally coming out after the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, the director says that it adds a new context to what was meant to be a fun shoutout in his upcoming film.

I love the Snyder Cut and the reels in the vault were for me, I feel like. Does that have a different meaning to you now that the film was released into the world?

Zack Snyder: Yeah, and it's really funny because it represents this point of when the Snyder Cut was really an archival... It was a Holy Grail locked in some vault - in my vault. It's really cool to look at it now and know that when we shot that, there was no hope of the Snyder Cut ever coming out, man. And here we are now, before this movie is released, and that movie is out.

With all the hype surrounding the Snyder Cut, it's easy to forget how personal of a journey the film was for Snyder. When the director originally left Justice League, it was because of a family tragedy and studio influence that he felt he could no longer fight against. Throughout the campaign to get the Snyder Cut released, fans raised money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of Snyder's daughter, Autumn. This culminated in an emotional dedication at the end of the Snyder Cut accompanied by a version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," one of Autumn's favorite songs.

As the director looks beyond his time in the DCEU, Army of the Dead represents a new chapter for  Snyder. The director is seemingly building a zombie universe at Netflix, one that could see a collaboration between Snyder and the streamer for years to come. Army of the Dead certainly seems primed to be a hit, thanks, in part, to both Snyder's ardent fandom and the sheer excitement of the return of blockbuster films. All of this, though, is nothing compared to the director's emotional journey to get the film released.