Disney+ released the new “Marvel Zombies,” created by Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells, on Sep. 24.
This 4-episode miniseries follows the survivors of the zombie apocalypse as they make a last-ditch effort to reclaim their world from the undead, continuing the story from the fifth episode of the “What If…?” series in 2021.
Characters from the “What If…” episode, such as Spider-Man, Hudson Thames, and Wanda Maximoff, Elizabeth Olsen, return alongside new characters from Marvel’s more recent projects, including Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani, and Shang-Chi, Simu Liu. This interaction helped to bring this universe together and provide a sense of continuity between the two shows.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has recently been losing the audience’s favor. Marvel has released many unsatisfactory projects in the last few years, including box office flops such as Eternals in 2021, The Marvels in 2023 and subpar TV shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in 2022 and Secret Invasion in 2023. Taking this into account, it’s safe to say that many Marvel fans, including myself, were cautiously optimistic for the release of “Marvel Zombies.”
With projects such as Deadpool and Wolverine in 2024 and Daredevil: Born Again in 2025, Marvel is becoming more confident with releasing more mature content, which has been positively received by the fanbase.
“Marvel Zombies” continued this trend as the series’ TV-MA rating set it apart from the TV-14 “What If…” series. The writers were able to explore the violent, frightening zombie wasteland in a much more impactful way. In “Marvel Zombies,” this mature rating allowed the animators to add to the realism of the show.
Marvel’s choice to drop all of the episodes at once as opposed to their usual weekly releases at first seemed like a major red flag, but the ability to binge the show all at once helped enhance the viewing experience and bring the story together. With almost a year and a half until the release of Avengers: Doomsday, “Marvel Zombies” gave a much needed team-up story for the fans.
The show’s animated format helped to add to the horrific element of the series, something Marvel hasn’t explored much in the past. The animators’ choice to keep the setting dark and mysterious in this post-apocalyptic world helped to highlight the characters and their powers. One particular scene from the first episode showed Ms. Marvel fleeing from a battle, following her character while also focusing on the dangers in the background. This was all done in one clean shot, something that couldn’t have been achieved in live-action.
The choice to have the characters voiced by the actors from their movies also helped to immerse the audience in this altered world. In particular, Wanda Maximoff, the Queen of the Dead, was voiced by actress Elizabeth Olsen. Her character hasn’t been seen since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022, so Olsen’s return was quite welcome. Her voice, combined with the constant red glow of her character, made her a truly frightening opponent. Additionally, Black Panther was originally meant to be a large part of the story, but actor Chadwick Boseman’s untimely passing in 2020 when the series began production prompted Marvel to go in a different direction by not giving the character any lines. In a scene narrated by Spider-Man, he sacrificed himself to defeat a zombified Thanos in a final farewell that paid respect to his legacy.
Overall, I would give this series a 7/10. It allowed us to see some of the other characters that had been overlooked coming together and forming a team prior to Avengers: Doomsday, but the pacing was inconsistent throughout the episodes, and I found myself zoning out at times and struggling to keep up at others. Nonetheless, it was satisfying to see these classic characters unite and bring this new era of the MCU together.