WARNING! Spoilers for Army of the Dead.
In a brilliant piece of foreshadowing, Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead features a specific piece of body art that’s very telling about the film’s ending and the eventual fate of Vanderohe (played by Omari Hardwick). The buzzsaw-carrying mercenary was a part of the crew assembled by Dave Bautista’s Scott Ward to steal 200 million dollars from a zombie-infested Las Vegas, though he was one of the only survivors by the film’s end, albeit with a dark twist and new role going forward. However, a brand on his chest teased what would eventually happen to him by the movie’s end.
By the film’s end, several of crew have been killed, either by infection, being eaten, mauled by the zombie tiger Valentine, and/or dying in the nuclear blast. That being said, Scott’s daughter Kate was confirmed to have survived, having made it out of the city though she was forced to kill her father after he was infected by the Alpha. The crew’s safecracker Dieter may still be alive as well, as he was the only one whose death is unconfirmed. Furthermore, it was later revealed that Vanderohe survived the nuclear blast thanks to being trapped inside the vault.
After escaping the remains of Vegas, Vanderohe chartered a private jet for Mexico City using the millions he managed to secure for himself, though the final scene revealed he had been bitten and infected by the Alpha as well. However, Vanderohe’s role as the final zombie standing was actually teased in the beginning of the film: when he was gearing up for the job and his brand of the greek omega symbol (a common body modification performed by pledges for fraternities such as Omega Psi Phi) featured on his chest.
While Zeus was identified as the “Alpha” zombie, being the first zombie to infect Vegas until it was overrun, Vanderohe has become the “Omega” zombie, the final zombie to come out of Vegas to infect a whole new city. Thanks to his brand, Vanderohe was literally wearing a warning of his ending, providing a clever tease and Easter egg viewers can only really appreciate on repeat viewings.
Should there be an Army of the Dead sequel, it seems pretty clear Vanderohe would serve as its primary zombie antagonist in Mexico City, just as Zeus was in Las Vegas. In any case, the brand is a really fun tease for the character, as it hinted at his dark fate as early as his first few scenes. It’s also just a strong piece of poetic symmetry for the film’s narrative: the Alpha zombie was surpassed by the Omega zombie, though the Omega was introduced at the beginning in secret, only to be fully realized by the film’s end. Army of the Dead is streaming now on Netflix.
