The 2013 zombie film World War Z raked in truckloads of cash at the box office. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m ready for a sequel. For my Monday Mayhem series, let’s talk about this for a few minutes and see if we can make any sense of wanting to have a sequel hit another blockbuster season.
Call this a wish list. I suppose this is my wish list of what I would like to see in the next World War Z installment. However, I’ll have to stop short of presenting other wish lists for sequels to the films Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead. I’ll leave these for another time. Right now, I want to jump in to the heart of the zombie saga based on the bestselling novel by Max Brooks.
When I speak with my friends about World War Z, they say the film is a great action movie. I agree. The film certainly knows how to pack a knockout with its vast array of visual and sound effects. I can’t get over how incredible it looks and sounds whenever I sit down to watch the thing. I don’t think this undead flick can ever bore me.
Yet, what can the sequel deliver that the first movie didn’t? The first movie contains the change a human goes through when the virus enters the bloodstream. It also features a number of battles between humans and zombies, not readily seen in other movies. The sheer magnitude of the choreographed sequences leaves me to want more. And the best part about the movie is the little moments when the audience falls for the subtle trap that nothing will happen to our hero if there is dead silence on the screen. That fallacy quickly disappears soon after watching the movie for the first time. The scares come fast, and they come frequently.
So what would the sequel need to do to keep the audience interest from waning? It would need something never tried before.
I would love to see a subplot where a naval ship by the coast suddenly turns into an undead barge where people would have to defend themselves against a breakout of the virus. Since the boat would be a closed environment, confined to the water or the high seas, the people trapped wouldn’t have much choice other than to fight or run. Given there wouldn’t be that many places to run, the entire subplot would yield a pivotal dramatic beat akin to the plane scene in the first movie.
The other thing I would enjoy watching in a World War Z sequel would be a battle between the zombies and the humans in a wooded area, much like the film Gladiator. With the humans having only a short supply of ammo to contend with, every shot would count. Why not have a scene where humans could defend themselves with farming equipment fashioned as swords. Have you seen a scythe? Imagine the damage a tool like that could do on the undead population. Worrying about ammo would be so outdated. A whole range of weapons exists in a barn. Have you seen the ending to the film Twister?
Lastly, no sequel would be complete without new characters. This is where Brad Pitt himself could fall by a new strain of the zombie virus, but he’d have enough sense to quarantine himself before the full effect of the infection kicked in.
Actually, after thinking about it, maybe that’s not such a good idea after all. The film wouldn’t have anywhere to go after that little debacle, unless it happened in the end and proves to be a cliffhanger for a subsequent film.
Maybe?
What do you think a World War Z sequel should look like? Should Brad Pitt once again lead the cast?
Looking to God 
A lot of my friends didn’t like this movie, but I loved it. I’ve seen it a few times. It’s my favorite zombie film! I like your ideas for a sequel, especially the naval ship idea… I’d watch that!
Woot! It was a different zombie film and it’s worth watching several times to pick up the little nuances of its story!
I know a lot of people hated the movie because it wasn’t like the book but that was not a problem for me. I love both of them. For me the movie is a separate animal.( I took my Mom to see this movie. She loves zombie films and she loved this one.)
That said, I would like to see some of the more interesting action pieces from the book play out in the movie. Some of the individual stories of survival were fascinating and I’d love to see some of the larger ones on screen. Like clearing Paris’ flooded catacombs, the evacuation of Japan, the shipyard and mountain road scenes in India.
its a way of filming the book while still being true to the basics of the book, and I’m good with that.
I’m also pretty happy about the depiction of the women in the movie, as smart and capable people and hope they continue that into the next film.
Peter Capaldi ( Malcolm Tucker & the latest Doctor in the BBC’s ” Doctor Who ” series ) was in it as a U.N. official of some kind ), now I wish I’d seen it.
I also hope the next film with continue depicting the women in a strong light. Looking forward to the Paris’s flooded catacombs–I hope.
Me too, Jack!
I wanted to see more of the epic battles, the battle of the Hudson and overseas where they basically gassed everyone to see who was affected…(Brutal methods…)
A sequel to World War Z? I have to think about that some, since WWZ, at first viewing,left me somewhat disappointed. That’s because Max Brooks’s book of the same title didn’t lend itself all that well to a screenplay that reflects the journalistic “look back” at the zombie apocalypse that is captured so amazingly in the book. Of course, I got over myself and watched the movie a second time and enjoyed it thoroughly (except the zombies were too fast—that was appalling.) Brad Pitt as a U.N. investigator was a good way to approach the storytelling issues that a cinematic treatment would bring up. The use of illness to “mask” the living was pretty brilliant; I’m using a more direct variation of the concept in my own zombie novel.
How about the sequel to WWZ taking place on Alcatraz? Or even conspiracy-theory-ridden Plum Island? Or how about the space station only the disease cannot be manifested until the space station descends to a certain altitude? How about the Vatican—the Swiss Guard carry nothing but zombie-busting weapons. Or has that already been done? I am still acquainting myself with the vast repository of zombie lore, books and movies. And of course, the pathogen that causes zombification MUST mutate and having Brad Pitt’s character succumb could work as long as it’s not gratuitous. Zombie flicks are gratuitous by their very nature and a little of that goes a long way. Not the gratuitous horde action (you gotta have that!) but killing off too many key characters just for shock. I know many disagree, but I call it the “Game of Thrones Syndrome.” Kill too many people I care about and you won’t find me bothering to care about anyone else you introduce. Yeah. I’m talking to you, George R.R. Martin.
Monday Mayhem is very cool. I am going to borrow my husband’s tablet to read your books, plus send the link to my 30-year-old who LOVES zombie fic.
Thank you, Rosemary. I hope you enjoy the series!
What about slower zombies ? &, while not having seen the movie, weren’t the affected ** mutated ** more than zombified ?