Disney announced some good news for its Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans, revealing that the release date of Disney+‘s Marvel Zombies has been moved up an entire week from its original date of 3 October to 24 September.
This now means that the upcoming zombie apocalypse series will premiere on Disney+ before the spooky season, with each of the four episodes of the What If…? spin-off being aired weekly, therefore wrapping up all the undead mayhem two weeks before Halloween itself.
First announced in 2021, the animated miniseries will revisit the same post-apocalyptic world where the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have been turned into the undead that was originally seen in the episode “What If… Zombies?!” in What If…? Season 1. Inspired by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and artist Sean Phillips’ original Marvel Zombies comic, the series will also introduce new survivors drawn from across the MCU.
The What If…? episode ended on a grim cliffhanger: Thanos, now a zombie himself and wielding an almost complete Infinity Gauntlet, arrives in Wakanda, humanity’s last refuge. Meanwhile, Spider-Man (Hudson Thames, Mad Men), T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman, 21 Bridges), and the disembodied head of Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) were making their way there with the Mind Stone, hoping it could cure the infection. How their mission unfolds remains a mystery.
Footage shown at D23 2024 teased intense undead battles, with Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh, Don’t Worry Darling) and Blade Knight, a hybrid of Moon Knight and Blade, fending off hordes, while an infected Okoye commands the zombie army. Shang-Chi (Simu Liu, Barbie) will play a significant role alongside Katy (Awkwafina, Ocean’s Eight), Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung, The Grandmaster), and the Ten Rings. Elizabeth Olsen (Sorry for Your Loss) also returns to voice the infected Wanda Maximoff, whose terrifying presence was a highlight of the original episode.
With a TV-MA rating, Marvel Zombies promises to push boundaries for the MCU, delivering plenty of gruesome gore and macabre mayhem for its audience. This will mark one of Marvel’s most mature projects yet, and definitely one that is not intended for younger viewers.
Brad Andrews, director of the original What If…? zombie episode, returns as showrunner and executive producer. The series was created by Emmy-winner and Deadpool & Wolverine co-writer Zeb Wells. The concept for expanding the zombie universe hailed from Marvel Studios leadership, after television chief Brad Winderbaum and president Kevin Feige saw the potential for more narratives stemming from the apocalyptic world following the popularity of What If… Zombies?!
With just four episodes but the freedom of a mature rating, the creative team has set out to craft something impressive with a darker tone than audiences might expect from Marvel or Disney, and fans will simply have to wait in tantalising trepidation for the terrific terror that Marvel Zombies promises.
Marvel Zombies premieres on 24 September on Disney+.
Conversation with Ting Wei is like chatting with a weird AI bot programmed only with One Piece lore and theories, sitcom quotes and other miscellaneous pop culture references. When he’s not sleeping, he’s highly likely reading manga. In fact, the only thing he reads more than manga is the Bible, and it’s honestly pretty close.
Si Jia
