What actually happens
A vault in a city with a nuclear deadline
A military convoy carrying a captured zombie crashes on a highway outside Las Vegas. The zombie gets loose, infects the soldiers, and takes most of the city with it. The military's attempt to deal with it fails, so the government seals Las Vegas off. Six years on, Bly Tanaka, who owns a casino there, and his associate Martin offer mercenary Scott Ward a job: get $200 million out of Tanaka's vault before the military drops a nuclear bomb on the city. Ward agrees and rounds up his old teammates Maria Cruz and Vanderohe, along with pilot Marianne Peters, safecracker Ludwig Dieter, and sharpshooter Mikey Guzman, who brings along Chambers. Martin comes too, since he can get them into the casino. Kate, Ward's daughter, works at a quarantine camp and points them to a smuggler named Lilly, who brings in a camp guard named Burt Cummings. When Kate finds out Lilly took her friend Geeta into the city, she insists on joining the crew.
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A glow stick path through a room of sleepers
Right after the team enters Las Vegas, they run into a zombie tiger. Lilly shoots Cummings during the encounter, then explains that intelligent zombies called Alphas will let people through if they get a sacrifice. One Alpha, the Queen, carries Cummings off to the Olympus casino, where Zeus, the leader of the Alphas, infects him. Lilly then guides the team into a building packed with ordinary zombies that are hibernating, and Ward marks a path through them with glow sticks. This is the scene to brace for, and it happens on the way in, before the casino. Chambers accuses Martin of having a hidden agenda, so Martin diverts her away from the safe route, and she wakes the sleepers. She is surrounded and bitten, and Guzman fires at the canister of gasoline strapped to her back. The explosion kills Chambers and every zombie around her, and the rest of the team keeps going.
The Queen loses her head
At Tanaka's casino, Ward and Kate restore the power, Peters readies the helicopter on the roof, and Dieter starts on the vault. A news report says the government has moved the nuclear strike earlier, which leaves the team about 90 minutes. Martin and Lilly say they are keeping watch outside, but they are really luring the Queen out where Martin can behead her and take her head. Zeus finds her body and carries it back to the Olympus casino, where it turns out the Queen was pregnant with a zombie fetus. Furious, Zeus sends the Alphas to the casino. Dieter gets the vault open, and Ward learns that Kate has gone off to search for Geeta. Before he and Cruz can go after her, the Alphas arrive and kill Cruz.
Martin explains his plan to a locked basement
Martin locks the team in the basement and explains that Tanaka cares more about the Queen's head than the cash, because it can be used to build a zombie army for the government. He then steps outside and finds that Lilly put a bill-counting machine where the head was, and the tiger gets to him first. Vanderohe fights Zeus and loses, and Dieter sacrifices himself so Vanderohe can reach the vault safely. Ward, Lilly and Guzman make it to the lobby, where zombies swarm Guzman. He sets off his grenades, which kills the zombies and himself and destroys all the money he was carrying. On the roof, Lilly distracts Zeus with the Queen's head so Ward and Peters can escape. Zeus fatally impales her, and she drops the head off the roof, which destroys it.
The ending, explained
Peters flies Ward to the Olympus casino to get Kate. Kate finds Geeta inside and finishes off the infected Cummings, and then Zeus chases the group onto Peters' helicopter. Ward accidentally shoots Peters, the helicopter starts flying wildly, and Zeus overpowers Ward and bites him. When the nuclear bomb goes off, the flash distracts Zeus long enough for Ward to kill him. The shock wave crashes the helicopter and kills Peters and Geeta. Kate lives through it and finds Ward, who gives her money to start a new life and then turns into a zombie. Kate kills him and cries as a rescue helicopter arrives. Vanderohe also survived the blast, leaves the vault with the remaining money, and rents a plane to Mexico City. Mid-flight he realizes he has been bitten.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there's a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Army of the Dead scary?
Army of the Dead is a 4 out of 10. It has jump scares, a zombie tiger and a lot of explosions, and the dread is gone by the time the credits roll.
How does Army of the Dead end?
Ward is bitten by Zeus, hands Kate money so she can start over, turns into a zombie, and is killed by her. Kate survives the nuclear blast, and Vanderohe escapes with some of the cash and discovers on his flight that he has been bitten.
Does the dog die in Army of the Dead?
No dog dies in Army of the Dead. A tiger and a horse appear as zombies, and their transformations are not shown.
Is there a post-credits scene in Army of the Dead?
Nobody has confirmed whether Army of the Dead has a scene after the credits.
Who is Zeus in Army of the Dead?
Zeus is the leader of the Alphas, the intelligent zombies who live in the Olympus casino. He infects Cummings, goes after the team when the Queen's head is taken, and is killed by Ward as the nuclear flash distracts him.
