Is Ludwig Dieter alive after Army of the Dead?

Ludwig Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighöfer, is the fan-favorite character of Army of Thieves. The character also stole the show in Army of the Dead, which was released on Netflix in May 2021.

For those who don’t know, Army of Thieves is the prequel to Army of the Dead, which introduced millions of viewers all over the world to Dieter, and probably Matthias Schweighöfer, too, unless you’d seen some of his other movies.

In Army of Thieves, we get to see Dieter’s from normal-ish guy to the world’s best safecracker, which is why he’s recruited by Scott Ward (Dave Bautista) in Army of the Dead to join their mission into Las Vegas after it’s overrun by zombies to steal millions from a casino vault.

Spoilers ahead for Army of Thieves and Army of the Dead. 

Does Ludwig Dieter die in Army of Thieves?

Nope! And, if you watched Army of the Dead, you would have known Ludwig Dieter makes it to Las Vegas, so there’s no way he could have died in Army of Thieves. 

At the end of Army of Thieves, Dieter leaves Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel) behind — at her request — and escapes to the United States, where he teams with Scott Ward and the others from Army of the Dead. 

Does Ludwig Dieter die in Army of the Dead?

This is where things get interesting! If you would have asked in May 2021 if Dieter was still alive, I would have been 100 percent sure that Dieter was dead and Schweighöfer would have no chance at returning for Army of the Dead 2, aka Planet of the Dead. 

Now, I’ve done a total 180! I don’t see how Planet of the Dead happens without Dieter.

So, at the end of Army of the Dead, Dieter saves Vanderohe, closes the safe, and that’s the last we see of him. Unlike many of the characters, we don’t actually see Dieter die. That’s always fun when that happens because it usually means there’s a chance that the character isn’t actually dead, of course.

That appears to be what happened here.

In a recent interview with Insider, Zack Snyder, who directed Army of the Dead and produced Army of Thieves, said:

"But 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 — aka Planet of the Dead — 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."

If that’s not an admission, I don’t know what is. It sure sounds like, somehow, Dieter is alive.

Will Ludwig Dieter be in Planet of the Dead?

Again, we hope so! And, that seems like the natural progression of this story to include Ludwig Dieter in Planet of the Dead. We don’t know where this story is going or what approach Snyder and the team are going to take, but it looks like Dieter is part of their plans moving forward.

There’s no more lovable character in this whole universe that Netflix and Snyder are creating. It would be a real shame for it to move forward without Dieter.

I would love for Dieter to go on a quest in the middle of the apocalypse to find Gwendoline. If that’s not what Planet of the Dead is about, I’m going to be a little disappointed, honesty.

Stay tuned for more news about Planet of the Dead.