Army of the Deadstar Dave Bautista recently revealed it bothers him that he has never met his co-star Tig Notaro. Bautista, who is best known for playing Drax in theGuardians of the Galaxyfranchise,said he wants to meet Nortaro and tell her how great she was in the zombie film.
Zack Snyder’sArmy of the Deadfollows Bautista’s Scott Ward, a mercenary who attempts to steal $2 million from a Las Vegas casino during the height of a zombie outbreak. The large ensemble cast includes Ella Purnell as Kate Ward, Omari Hardwick as Vanderohe, Ana de la Reguera as Maria Cruz, and Tig Notaro as Marianne Peters. This marks the first timeSnyder has tackled the zombie apocalypse genre since his debut filmDawn of the Dead(2004). The popular DECU filmmaker penned the film’s screenplay with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold.
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Bautista toldVulturethat he has still never met Notaro despite sharing numerous scenes with her character. Notaro, who was recently seen inStar Trek: Discovery,replaced comedian Chris D’Eliaafter multiple women accused him of predatory sexual behavior. During post-production onArmy of the Dead, Netflix spent millions of dollars to digitally insert Notaro into the film. “It was weird, because, you know, I wasn’t there. [Laughs.] And when I watch it, I feel like Iwasthere,” said Bautista, while adding, “there’s a connection that’s missing there. But I don’t feel like the movie misses a beat.”
The former WWE star noted it bothers him that he still doesn’t know his co-star. Ana de la Reguera is the only actor Notaro shared a scene within the film. Snyder used a CG scan of Notaro’s body to digitally insert her into various scenes. “I want to meet her, and I want to hug her and tell her how amazing she was in the film. I’ve been able to do that with all my other co-stars, and I haven’t been able to do it with Tig because I haven’t met her yet. I think she’s amazing and is incredible in the film,” said Bautista.
In 2020, Netflix announced they were producing both anArmy of the Deadprequel film and animeseries. The anime-style prequel series, titledArmy of the Dead: Lost Vegas, will follow Bautista’s Ward and will presumably shed more light on his backstory, some of which was explored or mentioned in the first film, but not in great detail. The cast includes Joe Manganiello (Justice League) as Rose, Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) as Torrance, Harry Lennix (The Blacklist) as Boorman, Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why) as Chen, and Anya Chalotra (The Witcher) as Lucilia.
Directed by and starring Matthias Schweighöfer, the live-actionprequel movie calledArmy of Thieveswill center on hisArmy of the Deadcharacter, Ludwig Dieter. Nathalie Emmanuel, Guz Khan, and Stuart Martin also star in the project, while Zack Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder are the producers. The romantic comedy is set in the early days of the zombie outbreak and will premiere on Netflix in 2021.
