JJ Abrams' Overlord looks like Hollywood turned Call of Duty's Zombies mode into a WW2 movie

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And it's not a Cloverfield movie (unless it actually is)

Overlord, the next movie from JJ Abrams, has finally gotten its first trailer. But far from being an obvious tie-in to the Cloverfield universe (as many suspected it would be), the film looks more like JJ had been playing some Call of Duty: WW2 Zombies mode and thought to himself, "What if this, but a movie?"

Okay okay, that's not totally fair; Nazi zombies have been A Thing since long before the most recent CoD. Wolfenstein has featured undead members of the Third Reich since the '90s, and they've popped up in other forms of pop culture throughout the years. Still, there's just something about the color palette and general vibe of this trailer (maybe it's the AC/DC blaring "Hell's Bells"?) that reminds me most of Sledgehammer Games' take on the popular mode.

Speaking of Call of Duty movies, don't forget that's still a thing that's happening. Back in February, Stefano Sollima, director of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was said to be in negotiations to direct the first live-action Call of Duty. News of the project has been quiet since then, but we still think a Call of Duty cinematic universe could work.

But back to that bit about Overlord not being a Cloverfield film: while rumors suggested that Overlord would somehow fit within the Cloverfield anthology (a cinematic universe that so far has been held together more by theme and tone than explicit plot threads), Abrams said back in April that Overlord is distinctly not tied to those films. Of course, this is JJ Abrams, who has a bit of a habit of misleading his audience, if not outright lying (looking at you, 'Benedict Cumberbatch is not Khan'-style statements made while promoting Star Trek: Into Darkness). So forgive us if we don't take him at his word.

Still, the movie certainly looks like its own thing, and should be a fun, gorey romp when it arrives in theaters on November 9.

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Sam Prell
Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.