Marvel Zombies Animated Series Is Happening
If you thought one episode of What If...? was it for Marvel's Zombies, think again!
This article is more than 2 years old
Alongside Hocus Pocus 2, a sequel to the witchy classic from 1993, Disney+ Day brought a ton more announcements, including Agatha: House of Harkness, I am Groot, and now, Marvel Zombies – in which the new generation of heroes battle against an ever-spreading zombie scourge. The new series was announced on Marvel Studios’ 2021 Disney+ Day Special, currently streaming exclusively on Disney+, which we have mentioned in our previous report. Here’s the post from Disney+:
Disney just announced Marvel Zombies, an animated series from Marvel Studios adapted from the five-issue limited series of the same name, published in 2005-2006. However, the foundation for the upcoming series was previously introduced in the fifth episode of the anthology series What If…? The episode focuses on several MCU heroes trying to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse, which horrifically took some of their superhero colleagues. That episode concluded with Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the artificially preserved head of Ant-Man, traveling to Wakanda with the Mind Stone to create the cure for the zombie plague. However, they were greeted by not-so-friendly zombie Thanos upon arrival, wearing an Infinity Gauntlet.
The comic book series launched in 2005 as a spin-off from a crossover story-arc of Ultimate Fantastic Four. Its story is set in an alternate universe where the superhero population has been infected with a virus that turns them into zombies. Something akin to Avengers meeting Resident Evil. In the comics, Reed Richards meets his zombie counterpart from another universe, who tricks him into opening a portal to the zombie universe, causing mayhem and devastation. Marvel even hired Robert Kirkman, writer of The Walking Dead, to write the narrative.
The comic concluded in 2006 but there have been a number of sequels, including Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies — one of a number of mini-series that was part of Marvel’s 2015 mega-event Secret Wars. It was an interesting series in which Ultron allied with the zombies to target Vision, Wonder Man, and Jim Hammond. The series also ties in with Black Panther comics, in which Shuri takes over the mantle of the cat, and T’Challa becomes Wakanda’s King of the Dead, capable of controlling the dead, or in this case, the undead.
It’s still unclear how and if Marvel Zombies fit into the official MCU canon, and its numerous Phases and Sagas, and whether it’s a What If…? spin-off, or will it chart its own course. The new series will share its director, Bryan Andrews, with the What If…? series, with Executive Producer Zeb Wells in charge of the writing. Disney hasn’t offered an official release date yet, but the streaming service teased that the show is “coming soon” to the streamer.
Besides announcing Marvel Zombies, Disney and Marvel also announced the X-Men ’97 television show, that’s a sequel to the beloved X-Men animated show from the 1990s. Spider-Man: Freshman Year, another animated show, will be directly tied to the MCU, following Peter Parker’s journey to becoming Spider-Man.
